The Demon Wars: Akatsuki Invasion
by IratheSquire
Summary: AU. Five years after the Sasuke Incident, Hinata, as hunter nin, was sent to find the missing nin Uzumaki Naruto who disappeared on that day. Little did she know that her first assignment would end up more dramatic than expected. R&R are welcome.
1. Prologue

**A/N: This was planned at around chapter 220 of the manga. Therefore the spoilers go up to there and hereby the inconsistencies.**

Disclaimer: If I own Naruto, I wouldn't be sitting in my room writing up fanfics. So besides the original stuff, anything else belongs to Kishimoto Mashashi.

Prologue

It was only afternoon in the Hidden Village of the Leaf. The sun was beginning to set, its light painting the cloudless sky in shades of red.

Hyuuga Hinata was not enjoying the scene, though.

She rushed down the empty street, her young and fragile face twisted with effort as she forced herself to run, her body occasionally bumping into various villagers. She never stopped for an apology, never paused for breathe. Her lungs were starting to feel sore as they puffed for air to feed her tiring muscles, but she still pushed on. She stopped only once, her head turning around as her pale white eyes looked to navigate her way through the maze of buildings and streets. When the thirteen-year-old finally found her direction she paced off again.

Soon the white, familiar walls of the Leaf hospital appeared looming before her. Without missing a beat, Hinata rushed and pushed through the glass door and another various villagers, earning a couple of curses and glares, which Hinata cared little. Her mind was totally focused on her destination which, apparently, was the reception she was running towards. There, the thirteen-year-old asked for more directions, and then paced off again down the corridor towards the white door at the end. She pushed it open and stumbled inside.

The ward was small, but cozy. To the back of the room were two small beds, on which two figures were lying under a thin blanket. Between the beds there stood the tall, shapely figure of Tsunade. Her hand, glowing with chakra, was placed on a forehead. At the corner of the room there sat Shikamaru. His face and Chunnin vest were dirty with mud and leaves and his long hair was untied, left scattered around his head and neck.

Hinata looked around, her eyes darting in search for a certain blond-hair boy. The boy on the left, being treated, was obviously far too enormous to be him, while the left one had black hair. In her heart she felt sympathy for the two, but she could not help letting out a sigh of relief.

It was then the door was opened with such a sudden-ness that Hinata stepped back. A shinobi came rushing in, and Tsunade removed her hand as she finished her operation.

"Tsunade-sama," he bowed and reported. "We've recovered the body of Kiba." His face twisted in the way that showed the condition of the remains. "But still no trace of the last one."

Hinata almost stopped breathing.

Tsunade looked out of the window. "Continue your efforts. Naruto must be found."

"Hai!"

As soon as the shinobi disappeared, Hinata suddenly found it hard to breath. She clutched her chest, and her knees buckled. She did not notice that she was falling onto her knees, nor that Tsunade and Shikamaru came rushing towards her. All she knew was one thing in her mind.

"Naruto-kun…"

---

The light from Hinata's window poured out into the streets, exceptionally bright due to the darkness around. Her head rested upon her hands, her eyes staring at the dark outlines of the Konoha forest outside the walls of the village. It was long beyond her usual bedtime, but she did not care. Not that she would not be having any training the next day- in fact, she would have to be up by dawn- but she could not sleep. Her mind kept on wandering to one person who, even when she left the hospital at the evening, was still declared missing.

As her pale eyes stared at the black outlines of the forest, the image of Naruto kept on appearing inside her head. Her ears could still hear the loud encouragements of the ninja, given to her during her fight with her cousin Neji. She recalled the time during the first Chunnin exam when Naruto, sitting right next to her, rejected her offer to have a look at her test paper. Hinata could almost let out a smile at the image of Naruto folded his arms and pretended that he had guessed the true purpose of the first exam. Naruto-kun…

Oh, why did it have to be him? She asked herself as tears gathered in her eyes. Why did it always have to be the good guys… She blinked, trying to keep the moisture in, but like a dam breaking up only more flowed… More so, why did she have to be so… so SHY?? Hinata clutched her fists tightly. If only she had told him. If only she had shown how deep her feelings were for him, for Naruto. Now, she did not even know if she would ever have the chance. The only thing she could do was to put her head down and wept in the silence of the night.

Hinata buried her head inside her arms. She did not notice the small, green light that shone from the horizon...

---

The country of the Wind lived up to its name at night. The chilling winds blew across the faint shapes of the sandy dunes, occasionally swirling up mists of sharp, rocky powder. At night, the desert seemed to be trying to compensate the heat during the day with the cold. The land of the sand was just as unforgiving as it was in the day.

Yet alone amongst the waves and waves of the sandy sea was an oasis, where there was a small and insignificant hut, far beyond from when the closest civilization- the Hidden Village of the Sand- situated. Yet this was the home to one twelve-year-old girl, who managed to find a way to survive in the harshness of the desert.

That girl was kneeling beside a young boy of her age lying on a bed on the floor in a blanket. Her soft, fragile hand ran over the kanji for "love" on the forehead as she felt the high temperature the boy had. She stood up, turned around, and rushed to a bucket of water, her net blouse rustling against her long robes. She pulled out a wet towel and ran back to put it on the forehead, hoping that the cooling effect would help with his fever.

Even though she and all those with her name were banned from the Village of Sand, Kazeoni Kuri had heard legends of this boy, this monster known as Sabaku no Gaara- Gaara of the Desert. However, when she first met him a couple months ago she felt no fear: she could only feel pity and understanding. After all, he was not the first "monster" that the Sand created and then shunned. Kuri knew that all too well from the family history she learnt from her parents. Her ancestor had a demon sealed inside him, and for that he was banished from the Sand Village forever. Since the powers of the demon passed on from generation to generation, his descendents were banned from the village as well. Thus the family carried the name Kazeoni- Wind demon.

Wind demon… to Kuri it was both a family curse and a family blessing. Without the powers it gave her she would not have survived long in the desert alone after the deaths of her parents, who often said to her that she had the thickest blood of the Kazeoni, with the most power. Without it she would not have lived out in the open, not encounter Temari and her band when they were caught out in a sand storm…

A sudden thump made the girl jump. Kuri looked up, hoping to find the source of the noise. She relaxed a little when she realized that it was only her guests, sleeping soundly upstairs. Kuri had promised Temari and Kankuro, siblings to Gaara, that she would take care of their youngest brother for the night, just as she had done since they had arrived.

A sudden wind brought some chill into the room. Kuri looked around, and found that the window to the right somehow had been left open. She got to her feet and walked up to the large panel, her hands on the edges ready to close it.

It was then she saw it, the green light from afar.

Her large eyes widened, as if she could not possibly believe it. Kuri leaned out of the window, so as to see it better, just to make sure. There was no mistake. It was the green light from the far west.

Her red lips opened a little to let out a gasp, and quickly she shut the window and turned around, her mind in turmoil. From what she remembered of her parent's tales, Kuri knew what that green light meant.

Kuri shuddered at the thought. If she was right then it was doom for not just the Sand, but all of the villages as well…

---

Far beyond the western borders of the Wind country was a range of mountains, standing upright in an endless, rigged wall that stretched far into the horizons in the north and south. It was a desolate and dry place, much like the other parts of the desert.

However, in the lands nearing the mountains, the golden sand turned abruptly into grey ash, littered with white bones, as if the ground itself was rotten, tainted by whatever evil lay beyond those mountains. The ashes never moved, not even when the howling winds, more chilling than any other, unleashed their fury against them. Thick, dark clouds hung over in the sky, blocking the moon and any other sources of light which this land desperately needed. This was, rightly-named, Riku Nashi Akatsuki- Land without Dawn- by the unfortunate few that lived close by.

Amongst this wall of mountains there was a gap that would serve as a pass into the lands that the wall withheld, if not for the large tower that stood in the way, as if frowning upon on those who attempted to trespass into the forbidden lands it guarded. Its black, metallic gate stretched from cliff to cliff, decorated with long, pointed spikes that resembled teeth of a large, monstrous mouth. On the ground there piled while bones of animals and even people. Even in the darkness of the night, the twisted evil shape of the tower could still be seen looming high over the mountains. To the naked eye it seemed to be a source of darkness, its black walls much blacker and darker and any darkness of the night. It was a difficult task to look upon the tower itself, for the sight of it spelt bleakness and despair upon the hearts of the few that dared to come near it. Out of those brave ones only a fraction returned, bringing back stories of the horror they saw, leaving others to speculate what terrible fates those that went missing encountered.

Thus this was named by the locals as the Kyou no Tou, Tower of Doom.

It was in this night, however, that the tower began to stir from its slumber. A low, deep rumble echoed along with the winds from within the building as the ground began to shake. The rumble grew louder and louder, and then the tower began its activity: the very top of the tower opened up like a black hand reaching for the sky.

A sudden green lightning shot from the tower into the clouds with a loud boom, the static electricity flying in all directions. The sickly, diseased green of light unleashed its fury upon the lands of the living as some of its branches struck the ground, blackening the already black ashes and blasting away the bones. The ground shook, and the tower released its rage as a loud, heart-withering screech filled the foul air. Then the lightning vanished, and all became quiet, just as sudden as it all began. The tower, having finished its purpose, closed its top and returned to its former sleep.


	2. Chapter 1

**Part 1: The Demon Hunters **

Chapter 1

Five years was nought but a blink of the eye.

The sun was rising in the horizon, pouring out its white fingers behind the mountains. As the darkness of the night disappears, the small village of Konoha began to wake from its slumber. Smoke began to descend from the chimneys as the people turned on their stoves to cook their breakfast. Sounds of groaning and yelling came from everywhere to form into a disordered orchestra of the morning as those who woke up first called for their sleepy children or lazy partners.

Hyuuga Hinata was of either, though. Although she was amongst the first to wake up in her small apartment, there was no one else for her to wake. She sat up on her bed, stretched her arms, and looked around at the room.

The room was small, but it suited her well for her purposes. Her bed lay at the side of the wall underneath a window, serving both as a place for sleep as well as a place for her to sit. On the other side there was a small tv set sitting on the top of drawers, all of which were stuffed with everyday clothing. At the end of her bed was a small closet, opposite to which were two door, leading to the bathroom and kitchen respectively. Above the closet was a picture of a blonde, namely Uzumaki Naruto.

Not long after what was now known as "the Sasuke Incident", Hinata's father Hiashi betrothed her to her cousin, Hyuuga Neji, following the Hyuuga tradition of heirs marrying close relatives to maintain purity of their bloodline. Shocked by this decision, Hinata did something that totally surprised everyone, even herself: she ran out of the Hyuuga clan. Hiashi, blinded with rage, disowned her daughter and declared Hanabi to be the heir to the Hyuuga clan.

That day, for Hinata, was one of the major turning points in her life. Since she now had no home to turn to, she had to live by herself. It was pretty tough for the young girl at first, but with the help of her sensei Kurenai as well as Tsunade the Hokage, Hinata began to settle in this insignificant apartment. It was still very far from her luxurious past, of course, but the former Hyuuga heiress had no complaints. Instead, she felt relieved. No longer was she the heiress to the strongest clan in Konoha; no longer did she have to live up to expectations unreasonably high from other people. She enjoyed her life as an ordinary shinobi, especially since the past five years Konoha had been through a period of peace.

That aside, Hinata also made a remarkable metamorphosis. The little problems Hinata encountered in ordinary, everyday life made her realize that she, too, could make her own decisions and shape her own way of living. The shy, introverted child had long faded away. In her place there was a young, confident woman who was fully independent. No longer would she follow others blindly. From the weakling child according to Neji, Hinata had grown stronger than any Hyuuga would expect.

Even so, however, there was still thing that she had not changed: her love for Uzumaki Naruto. Ever since she ran away Hinata could not tear her mind away from this ninja whom she looked up to when young. Every night before bed, just as she closed her eyes, that confident smile, those blue eyes, would appear in her mind. She would dream of him in her sleep, hearing repetitions of his encouraging cries. It did not take her very long to realize that it was because of him that she ran away from her heritage, her position and her privileges. Hinata did not want to marry Neji mainly because of him, of Naruto-kun. She felt happy, a strange realization that she had finally done something for him. Hinata realized that this was what people called love which, as Kurenai put it, was when people gave up their hearts to people for whom they would endure what would normally be intolerable.

Thus even five years after his disappearance, Hinata continued to stretch her ears for any news for Naruto. She knew that she could neither sleep nor rest properly until she had either found his final fate or him within her arms. Hope flared in her heart, even after five long winters it showed no signs of fading. Hinata continued her search, and now it seemed that what she had been hoping for was coming true.

It all began a few weeks ago, not long before the hunter-nin exams. She was sitting in the ramen shop, her fingers fiddling with the exam entry form, when her ears picked up a conversation from a nearby table. At first she paid no heed, but then they mentioned something about the sightings of "a blonde-haired man with whisker-like tattoos", her heart leapt.

She knew that it was a small chance, but it was still a chance. Thus in the next day she handed in the filled form to Kurenai. Soon after the days of writing and tense fighting in front of examiners, Hinata received the Hokage's official congratulation of her becoming a hunter-nin, and was to report in the Hokage office in the next morning…

Which was this morning.

The eighteen-year-old quickly rushed to the restroom to wash herself. She rushed back to her drawer and pulled out her clothes: a pale grey short sleeve shirt and a pair of blue shorts. After getting basically dressed, she rushed to the kitchen and took out some bread, which she placed in between her teeth as she struggled into her hunter-nin jacket. Hinata quickly finished off her breakfast, gulped down some water, before going for her hunter-nin mask and took the quickest route to the streets- jumping off from the window.

Hinata paced off once she landed onto the firm ground, with her sandals going pat, pat, pat in each step she took. It was not her normal way of getting to the streets, but right now she was in a hurry. Her long, dark-blue hair flew behind her as she ran down the streets, leaping and dodging agilely from the few villagers who were already on the way to their business. She stopped only once, as she allowed her pale, purple-ish white eyes scanned the area to navigate her way through the labyrinth of roads and streets. Then she rushed off again.

Soon the familiar building of the Hokage appeared before her. Hinata hesitated for a moment as her eyes looked at the kanji for "fire", wondering whether Tsunade was still asleep on her Hokage desk. Hinata let out a small sigh as she entered.

---

"You're very early today, Hinata," commented Tsunade as Hinata came through the door. "Eager for your first assignment, eh?"

Hinata was a bit taken back to find Tsunade sitting upright behind her messy desk, piled with papers and scrolls of all sorts. A couple rolled onto the ground. She smiled and shook her head when she noticed the redness on the right cheek and the faint traces of saliva at the corner of her mouth. The Fifth certainly had not changed much since she got the top job. Still, Hinata knew that Tsunade was a capable woman, thanks to whom that the Leaf was able to pass the last five years without much turmoil.

That did not mean that she did not have to fight through her piles of junk before producing Hinata's assignment, however.

"There!" Tsunade exclaimed at last as she pulled out a piece of paper, pushing piles of documents and scrolls onto the floor in the process. "Er… let me clear this up a bit while you read, won't you?" She said as she handed Hinata the paper.

Hinata quickly scanned through the contents. When her white eyes reached the words "Missing-nin: Uzumaki Naruto", they widened as she let out a gasp. For a moment Hinata could not speak as her breathing intensified and became short.

"So…" she finally muttered softly. "The rumors were true."

"Yes," Tsunade replied from the floor as she picked up the last scroll. "He is alive, it seems." She smiled as she got back to her seat. "That fox kid. Nothing can stop him, I say."

"Yes, indeed," Hinata smiled in her heart. Suddenly she recoiled in horror as she noticed the words beside the name. "He's a missing-nin? Then that means that I'll have to…"

"No, my goodness, no," Tsunade interrupted. "I am not that cruel as to send you to assassinate your love in your first assignment." Hinata blushed at that comment.

"Tsunade-sama…" Hinata began.

"Hinata, there's no need to be embarrassed," the Hokage interrupted. "Everyone knows how you feel about your Naruto-kun. There's no need to be ashamed for love." She paused for a moment. "Indeed, you should be proud of yourself. Most other people are relieved that he's gone. Only quite a few are saddened by his loss."

There was a short silence in the Hokage office.

"So, all you have to do is to find out if he really is there, Hinata, and take him back if he's willing," the Hokage finished.

"I see," Hinata replied. "So I'll do this alone?"

"Well," Tsunade replied as she scratched her head. "Hunter-nins usually work alone." She shrugged. "Sakura's out for another mission, and Kakashi hasn't returned from his yet. Besides, I think there's a lot you'll want to catch up with him." Hinata smiled.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," she replied as she folded up the paper and put it into her pocket.

---

The forest surrounding the Leaf Village was beautifully lush and green, the afternoon sun glittering on the sea of leaves. A cool breeze blew across the thick canopy, creating waves and waves in the green ocean as the leaves swayed and rustled in a loud roar like breaking waves.

Therefore had her mind not so focused onto her mission to find her love, Hinata would realize that as she leapt on the ground here and there she was like cruising along some ancient sea bed. However, the image of Naruto burnt inside her head as blurred bushes rushed past her Byakugan eyes, and her ears recalled the voice of the blonde boy as they picked up the rustling of the leaves. To her annoyance her reason still tried to extinguish her hopes of seeing Naruto, since it was still a possibility that the reports were false.

As Hinata shook her head, trying to shake away her doubts, she caught the sight of a shuriken coming from behind. She quickly turned around, and the sharp edges missed her face by less than an inch. With her all around field Byakugan vision, Hinata saw the weapon flying straight through a couple of tree trunks before stopping.

Before long, though, her Byakugan eyes saw another shuriken coming from behind, and she jumped and landed onto a branch of a tree. Three more came towards her way, this time from below. This time she let herself fell back and landed back onto the ground.

"Looks like that you haven't wasted all those years, Hyuuga Hinata."

Standing not far from the former Hyuuga heir in an attacking position was a handsome man in his early thirties. His long, greyish blue hair was tied up in a long tail behind the head. His dull grey tunic and his long trousers, accompanied by the belt of a lighter colour, gave out an aura of innocence and unimportance. His large glasses on his fair-skinned face gave him a bookish, scholar-like look. His eyes, however, glittered with an urge to murder as they stared at Hinata. What was more was that on his forehead was a headband with the symbol of the Sound village, though it had a dash on it.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Hinata demanded and reached down for her small shuriken holster on her thigh.

The face twisted in a sneer. "My name is Kabuto and we have met before," he said. "As to how I know your name…"

Suddenly the white parts of Kabuto's eyes darkened and turned black. Two black, bony horns grew out from underneath Kabuto's headband, breaking through the cloth with a loud rip. Two large, bat-like wings burst out from behind his back. His fingers stretched themselves long and thin, and the blackened fingernails grew long and sharp.

Kabuto sneered. "You have a part of something that belongs to me, young lady!" his voice, now much deeper, snarled as Hinata began to step back. "And now it's time to see if it works!"

Hinata could only recoil when Kabuto let out a long, loud shriek which seemed to thrust through her ears as it entered her brain. It was a screech of darkness, a call for disease and corruption. Something inside her seemed to echo to the call of despair, the cry of death, and began to chill her heart from within. The forest suddenly seemed to be turning darker and the air colder. The trees seem to start to close in as her breathing grew short and shallow.

Kabuto paused in satisfaction and let out another shriek. Fear saturated her mind and threw it into turmoil. Hinata tried to run, tried to escape from this force of evil, but she found her legs to be frozen to the ground. She began to feel her mind splitting apart. She closed her eyes and clutched her ears, trying to block out the foul scream. The sound only increased, however, as it echoed inside her skull, biting, gnawing, and grinding anything that it found in her mind. The former Hyuuga heir slowly dropped to her knees as if begging for the evil shriek to stop. Hinata never heard of any jutsu like this, never known any genjutsu that was as twisted and as tainted as this call for darkness and death.

Just as Hinata was on the verge of collapse, the shriek suddenly stopped. Still dazed, Hinata forced herself to open her eyes and looked up.

The last thing she remembered were two large, red bat-like wings on the back of a gigantic figure before all turned to darkness...


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_"Kurenai, you know the rules," said the impassive face of Hiashi. "Hinata must return to the Hyuuga clan. Hokage-sama," he turned to Tsunade, who was sitting at the corner of the room. "We cannot risk our secrets to be revealed to other villages!" Tsunade nodded but said nothing._

_The thirteen-year-old Hinata cowered behind her sensei, tugging her white bandages. Kurenai's red eyes were sympathetic when they lay upon the small, trembling child. They fired up with a strong will when they glared at the head of the Hyuuga clan._

"_You can stop your crap about your 'secrets', Hiashi," she snarled. "You only want Hinata back so that you can marry her off to Neji! All you care is to get his blood into the main branch…"_

"_But it's a tradition!" the Hyuuga leader exclaimed. _

"_Tradition!" Kurenai yelled. "I am sick of the Hyuuga 'traditions', mister. They do nothing but upset everyone!"_

_Hinata looked up and noticed the shinning tears glittering in her sensei's eyes. What brushes did she have with the Hyuuga family?_

_Tsunade held her hand up. "Well, Hiashi is right, Kurenai. Our enemies could really learn about the secrets of the Hyuuga through Hinata…"_

"_Hokage-sama!"_

"_However," Tsunade continued. "I don't think that the danger is that great, Hiashi, as long as Hinata does not deflect away from our village, which is something I don't think Hinata will do. Isn't it right, Hinata?"_

_Hinata stared at the Hokage and nodded._

"_As to her future," the Hokage concluded. "It will be best to be left to Hinata to decide."_

---

"_Sakunika, Marduniyaca, baskasca barfarca unijuniea doskosea? Bunica juniyasdosca… _"

"_Atossaca, bunica barfarca unijuniea doskosea. Jossoca barfartastarca kunibunica unijunica._"

"_Bunica sasosca…Sasos! Jossoca kayunica!_"

Hinata slowly opened her eyes to the strange and foreign speech that broke into her dream, and the darkness slowly faded into light. The former Hyuuga heir could feel the coolness of the rock behind her back, which told her that she must be inside some kind of cave. In her haze Hinata could make out the outline of a human face, the glowing red eyes staring at her… glowing red eyes?

Without thinking, Hinata sprang up from her position, only to see stars as she winced with a sharp pain. She heard a sharp cry as she closed her eyes and clutched the point of impact on her forehead.

"_Ar_!"

"_Bascasca kunifosca?_"

When she had done rubbing her sore forehead, Hinata opened her eyes and looked around. Just as she expected, she was sitting on a large flat rock inside a cave, the sunlight shining through the opening in the distance.

The next thing she noticed were two figures nearby. A pair of large, hairy bat-like wings hung like large black cloaks on their bare backs. Underneath their fringes of black hair, she could see a pair of horns protruding from the foreheads. Their irises were bright red, glowing at the centre of their otherwise black eyes.

Other than those abnormalities, Hinata could see that they looked just like a normal human couple in their early twenties, with the woman lying on the ground and the man tending to her. They even felt human, especially for the woman, who seem to have a child-like innocence in her eyes, almost as if this winged woman had nothing to hide. This was reinforced by the fact that she was dressed in only a worn stomacher and a torn dress that consisted only of two flaps at the front and back. Hinata could see nothing else beneath that except for the pink, bare flesh of the woman's long legs.

By contrast, the winged man looked more mature, in both his eyes and his actions. His long face was twisted with solemnity, even when his eyes looked at the woman with concern as he help to ease her pain on her forehead. There was an authoritative aura, something that commanded fear and respect from people around him, even though he was only wearing a long shredded robe with a shaggy vest and long, worn pants underneath. For some reason Hinata found herself thinking of Sandaime.

The winged man then helped the winged woman back to her feet, revealing his menacing height as he rose. "God," Hinata thought. "He must be as large as Jiraiya-sama."

As the winged giant turned to face her, Hinata could not help but feeling herself growing smaller, his intimidating aura overwhelming her. His eyes stared at hers, glowing as if with a red fire. The helpless former Hyuuga heiress could only wince and push herself back against the stones as the pair approached. Hinata turned to brace for an attack…

… But the bat-winged giant only smiled, clutched his fist on his chest and bowed.

"Ka nichi, my lady," he surprised Hinata with a strongly accented form of her speech. "I see that you've recuperated."

Hinata opened her mouth in astonishment as her fear disappeared just as quickly as the authoritative aura.

"The name is Marduniya of Ka-buni, son of Daraya," the giant bowed again. "You can also refer to me as Mardonius, as most who speak your tongue do.."

The woman shook her head and sat down beside Hinata, close enough for her to feel her warmth.

"Oh, never mind Mardonius," she said. "He always talks as if addressing to a god or something. By the way, I am Atossa. What about you?"

Hinata stared at her for a moment, eye to eye. Despite that fact those eyes were not human, Hinata could see the genuine explicitness in them, the kind that would have made Hinata trust her at once, were they not glowing red. "Hinata, Hyuuga Hinata."

"Hyuuga?" Mardonius gave a frown but said no more.

"Nice to meet you, Hinata," Atossa smiled as she clutched her fist on her chest.

"Ah, right," she reached out her hand. "This is the way that you humans greet each other, right?" Atossa raised an eyebrow.

"Er... yeah," Hinata replied as she reluctantly took her hand. "Um... your... er, wings?"

"Oh yes," Atossa stretched out her left wing and folded it over her shoulder. "A very special gift from our ancestors."

"Ancestors?"

"We're Nathmenid demons," Mardonius replied in a matter-of-fact way.

"Demons?" Hinata gasped. Was that what these two were?

Atossa gave Mardonius a hard look. "Mardonius, you don't have to scare her," she said. "Yes, Hinata, we've got demonic blood. But we also have human blood in us as well. Sort of a human-demon hybrid. That's what we are."

Hinata almost snorted. That did not make much of a difference.

"Well, at least we won't try to possess you like that Wraith," Mardonius muttered.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hinata asked.

"I was going ask you about it," the Nathmenid continued. "How did he get his soul inside you?"

"What?"

"Long story short, a Wraith is a spiritual demon," Atossa replied, giving Mardonius a dirty look. "It doesn't have its own body. It needs possess other bodies now and again. First it puts a part of itself into the target."

"Then it performs the _yunimata_, where it sings the Death song to see if the target is ready," Mardonius continued.

"And finally it touches the target and transfers itself into the new body," Atossa finished.

There was a moment of silence as Hinata digested this information. She opened her mouth.

"So you're saying that Kabuto was going to get inside me?"

"Well, it has already done the _yunimata_," replied Mardonius. "Your fainting to its cry has shown that the part of his spirit in you has completely integrated into your soul. So now all it had to do was to touch you, and his entire being will be transferred from his old body to yours."

It sounded completely crazy. Yet their serious expressions on their faces told her that it was no joke. Also, did not she just had the most tormenting experience with Kabuto? What if they were right...

"But don't worry, Hinata," Atossa patted her back. "We will never let that happen."

There was a slight pause as the former Hyuuga heir took the time to digest the new information. She wondered when Kabuto placed part of his soul into her. It would be forever hidden to her, or to everyone else in that matter, that Kabuto had done the sealing when he was "healing" Hinata during the third part of the Chunnin exam five years ago.

Another question popped out of Hinata's mind. "If you two are demons, then why are you helping me?"

The two looked at each other eye to eye, as if uncertain of what to answer.

"Um... Good question," Mardonius replied. "Well, er, it is to the Nathmenid tradition that we hunt down any demon that has run amok outside the boundaries of the Empire of Dawn, to keep other races safe from harm."

"Yes," replied Atossa. "Basically we are demon hunters. Anti-demon demons."

"Oh I see," Hinata replied, feeling slightly relieved. "Is that where you come from, the Empire of Dawn? Akatsuki no Teikoku?"

"Yes," Mardonius replied. "_Kunikosna Bunikasna _lies to the west of here, beyond the desert and over the Imperial Wall, a mountain range that stretches all the way from the north to the south. It is a vast country, stretching..."

"Yes, Mardonius, we get your point," Atossa interrupted his rhetoric.

Hinata smirked. She found herself placing more and more trust on those two. "So now you left your Empire to hunt for.. for that thing?"

Atossa and Mardonius looked at each other.

"Well, we are not aware that there's a wraith straying out here this far from the Imperial Wall," Mardonius replied. He looked down and Hinata could see the sorrow in his eyes. "We left our home for… some other reason."

"But hey," Atossa broke in. "We are Nathmenids, and we don't care why a demon is outside the Empire. We will hunt it down.

"And for now being, we will protect you from that wraith."

"But I am on a mission," Hinata protested. "I cannot just stay here." She clutched her fists. Besides, long ago she vowed to herself never to be the one whose being "protected".

"That's easy to solve," Mardonius smiled. "Atossa and I will be coming with you then. We wander around the woods anyway."

Hinata paused for a moment and wondered whether she should let them come with her or not. After all, they were still demons, even though they seemed to be trustworthy. However, now that there was another, definitely hostile demon in the equation, it did not seem to her that Hinata had much choice. Besides, it was better to have some company.

"All right then," Hinata nodded. "But you better not try any tricks."

"Where are you going…?" asked Atossa as they began to discuss their next step.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

His black eyes looked through the glasses at the cut on his arm as he pumped his chakra into it. Very soon the cut stopped bleeding and began to seal up. The dried blood turned into a scab, which dropped off to reveal normal, pale skin as soon as it was formed.

The creature let out a small, deep sigh as it spread out his wings on his back. It healed fast, he thought to himself, but not as fast as it should be. This body was getting old, he mused, too old, for he knew that normally a human body could only last for five years, at most ten, after being possessed by a Wraith. Then the body would die and start to rot. He was lucky that this body once belonged to a medical shinobi with powers to regenerate, which allowed it to last for the past twenty years. That was why this Wraith chose this body over the others, for he needed one that would last as long as possible. Since now it was almost time for him to return to the Empire, he wanted to possess a new body, preferably one that held more power than a normal human being, such as that Hyuuga heir.

He let go of the high branch he was sitting, and grabbed the topmost twig nearby to help himself onto his feet, carefully balancing himself so that he would not fall off. Not that a fall such as this one would matter, even he was about fifty meters above the ground, as he could utilize his body's healing powers to regenerate again. However, the resulting noise would certainly attract unwanted attention, and after what happened, he certainly did not want his attention, not if he could help it. He would not be able to survive another battle with _him_, that was for certain.

As his eyes stared at the canopy below him, now slightly orange in colour due to the descending sun, he wondered where his nemesis could be. More importantly, what he was even doing here, when he was supposed to be _dead_. It was well known that the King killed every single Vohuman when he usurped the throne, or at least that was rumoured to be before he left the _Kunikosna Bunikasna_. "Well, it seemed that his Highness did not do a good enough job," he thought to himself. "One more bargaining chip for me when I return, then."

However, before that could happen he had to find that Hyuuga heir. He must abandon this body before it failed completely…

Just then, he caught the sight of a flashing green at the corner of his eye. He turned around.

"Now?" he thought to himself, then smiled. "Well… looks like that the Hyuuga will have to wait for now."

With a light leap, he took off, his wings spreading, and flew towards the light at the horizon.

---

The sky was turning into a pale red as the sun began its descend down the west. An evening breeze swept across the forest, and the leaves danced in its wake, rustling their songs picked up by the sharp ears of Mardonius and his two female companions.

The lush forest around them reminded the he-demon of the royal forest he used to play in when he was young. It was there when he first met Atossa, young and adventurous. "Not that has changed much," he mused to himself as he heard her talking and laughing with the human girl who called herself Hyuuga Hinata. It all felt a lifetime ago, when he first met the female Nathmenid. Yet he could remember it as if it was only yesterday.

Mardonius let out a sigh as he looked at the reddish orange disk that hovered over the trees in the west. "So much had changed," he thought. Somewhere beyond those trees lay the mountain range known as the Royal wall, which cut of the human lands from his home, the _Kunikosna Bunikana_, or in the human tongue, Akatsuki no Teikoku, Empire of Dawn. It was not exactly far, only a three day's flight to Mardonius. Yet it was still so far to him, a home that he could not turn to. There was no way that he could go back now, after what happened.

A sudden green light twinkled from the horizon, right from the direction he was facing. Mardonius frowned.

At first, the demon thought that the light was going to disappear any time soon. Mardonius was completely surprised when the light not only had no sign of ceasing after a minute, but was growing in intensity.

Then after another minute or so, it disappeared.

"That's odd," he thought to himself. "It never lit for so long before. Unless..."

A sudden thought hit him, and it was so chilling that Mardonius suddenly felt cold, and shivered under the warmth of the setting sun. "No, he wouldn't," he thought to himself. "Not now, not yet." However, it was the only logical conclusion he could come up with. He bit his bottom lip.

That, along with the Wraith that was running around the Ninja Lands, meant that Mardonoius had very little time to achieve what he wanted to do.

"Damn it," he whispered to himself.

A sudden cry broke his revere. "What are you up to, Mardonius?"

"Oh nothing!" he called back. "I am coming."

Mardonius glanced back at where the light had come from, and darted towards the rest of the group.

---

As they spent their second day trekking through the forest, Hinata could not help but smile as she listened to Atossa's tale. As they travelled, she found herself liking the she-demon more and more. It was hard to believe that it was only two days ago when Hinata first met her. Now, it felt as if they had been lifetime friends.

At first, the former Hyuuga heir could not let herself to trust her new companions. After all, she had only known them for so long, and they were demons, for God's sake. Thus for the first few moments Hinata did not speak to them at all, leaving them to walk behind her, talking amongst themselves.

Hinata thought that they would be speaking to each other in their own language. Then she overheard their conversation which, to her surprise, was in her own language. Mardonius explained that it would be rude to her if they used Nathmenid, which Hinata could not understand. Besides, as Atossa told her, the human tongue was simple and easy to use, though it did not express complex ideas very well, which was not a huge problem since they were not talking about complex stuff anyway.

Thus Hinata began to lower her defenses, often entering their conversations and laughing with the two. Most of the time it was Atossa who was doing the talking, however, while Mardonius and Hinata did the listening. She talked generally about everything, but most about the exploits and adventures that she and Mardonius took as they wandered from country to country, but Mardonius' expression of shaking his head made Hinata wonder how much truth there was in Atossa's words. Sometimes she would talk about tender moments she and Mardonius shared, which made the other Nathmenid blush and turn away. Hinata could not help but to listen, andnot because she could not close her ears. There was some strange sort of humour in Atossa's voice, a cheerful force of its own, like a torch shinning in the darkness that Hinata did not realize that she was in. However, as she laughed and giggled with the rest, Hinata could not help relating Atossa with another loud-mouth, the one she was seeking.

However, Hinata noticed that there was one thing that Atossa did not talk about: Mardonius' family and friends. Atossa merely mentioned that they were the heirs of wealthy, influential families, and they were forced to leave due to political circumstances. Of which Atossa did not detail, only saying that it had something to do with a coup. How that could have caused their exile Hinata could not know, but the she-demon's energy and cheerfulness soon drove that out of her mind.

Sometimes, Hinata would speak to her tales of her own, the way she ran way from her family, how she became a hunter-nin, how she met Naruto and how he disappeared. Atossa proved to be just as good a listener as a story-teller. She comforted Hinata about the blonde, and assured her that she, at least, would try her best to finish her mission, and joked that she would drag Naruto back to the Leaf Village if necessary. Mardonius also offered a hand and agreed to help.

On the other hand, Mardonius was different, but only just. While most of the time he would not speak, once he did it was very often a beginning of what seemed to be a long lecture about something he knew about. Most often Atossa would had to step in and interrupt before he bore everyone into death. Once or twice, Mardonius would radiate off some sort of dominating aura, which would stop Atossa talking about certain topics. Most of the time, however, the demon would switch off his authoritative mode, and he would smile and cuddle Atossa in a passionate manner. During the times when Hinata gave them privacy for some intimate whispering and laughing, she imagined what it was her and Naruto together.

But for the moment, Atossa was chatting excitedly with Hinata, this time the topic was a certain event that reflected Mardonius' cooking skills.

"… and then when I get into the kitchen…" Atossa hesitated, then continued. "No, before I get to the kitchen I could already smell something burning. Then I get to the pot. Guess what I saw?'

"What?" asked Hinata excitedly. Atossa suppressed a giggle.

"Well, first of all there was no longer any more water," she replied. "Then when I pushed away the potatoes and everything, there was this black stuff at the bottom, this thick." The she-demon held up her finger and thumb about two inches apart. They both burst out laughing. "And all that time," Atossa continued, trying to catch her breath, "he was trying to tell the cook that the soup was fine…" She burst out laughing again.

"Oh dear," Hinata wiped her tears. "So what happened to the soup, then? Did he make another one?"

Before the she-demon could reply, the demon in question interrupted.

"A-hem," Mardonius broke in as he approached. "I have a sudden feeling that I am the subject of a certain gossip…?" He looked at Atossa wearing a half grin. Atossa looked at him, then burst into laughter.

"What?" Mardonius asked.

"Nothing," Atossa replied. "It's just… you look funny."

"Do I?" Mardonius scratched his head., puzzlement evident on his face.

Atossa burst out laughing, and Hinata could help but to wear a smile.

---

It took them two days, but eventually they reached their first destination. At first their ears picked up the sound of water running ahead. Then the leaves thinned to reveal a welcoming stream, its surface glittering under the afternoon sun. Since they were now very close to the small hut where Naruto and Jiraiya were spotted, Atossa and Hinata agreed that they could take a short break before following the stream to head south. The water looked clear and refreshing, and their clothes were getting muddy from the night sleeping in the wilderness.

Thus Atossa suggested that they should all head down to the water to have a short bath, and she immediately untied the knots behind her neck and side, letting her dress drop to her ankles. Hinata knew that she wore nothing underneath, but was still a bit surprised to have that confirmed like that. Mardonius immediately blushed bright red and turned around, walking away as he mumbled something about firewood. Atossa chuckled as she walked into the water.

"You coming?" Atossa turned to ask. Seeing that Mardonius had disappeared into the forest, Hinata stripped and walked into the water.

"Do you always do that?" Hinata asked as she crouched down, allowing the water to reach up to her shoulders. Atossa giggled.

"Do what?" she asked with feinted innocence.

"Well…" Hinata hesitated as she tried to put her words diplomatically. "Stripping off and all?" Atossa burst into laughter.

"Oh that," she replied. "Yeah, well, it's just so much fun teasing him. Back home no one cares if you're wearing anything. Mardonius' the exception, and only when it is me."

"Really?" Hinata asked, raising an eyebrow. Atossa nodded.

"Yup," she replied. "We don't concern about nudity as much as you pure-humans do. It's not like we'll lose a pound of flesh when people see them, is it?"

"Well," Hinata thought for a minute. "I suppose not."

For the next moments the two chatted while they washed. Atossa then decided that her clothes need a wash too so that walked out of the water, grabbed her dress and her belt, and took them to the water.

It was about then Hinata's Byakugan eyes caught the sight of a part of head with white hair behind a bush. She squinted just to make sure, and gestured to Atossa to come.

"Hey, I think someone is watching us," she told her when the Nathmenid came close, her head gesturing to the direction of the head.

"Well, it definitely cannot be Mardonius," Atossa muttered as she turned to have a look.

"You baka! Will you stop peeking after girls!"

"Huh?" Hinata turned at the familiar voice.

Then came a sudden yelp, and then a loud "bang" as a man burst out of the bush with a rustle of leaves. He landed on the soft ground, sliding on the dirt, and eventually stopped. Hinata let out a surprised gasp when she recognized his face. It was Jiraiya.

Another rustle of leaves told Hinata that someone else was coming out of the bush. She looked up, and found her staring at the grown-up version of Uzumaki Naruto.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Naruto!" forgetting about her nakedness, Hinata rose up at once at the sight of her love.

It was an eternal moment as she stood with her legs underwater, her eyes, filled with passion, staring at the young, handsome figure of her now grown-up Naruto-kun. He still looked very much like the Naruto Hinata remembered: the same blonde hair, the same whisker-like tattoos on his face, along with the same blue eyes. He was still wearing the same flashy orange jumpsuit, but on top of that he was wearing a dull white coat which hid most of it. Not that the passage of time had not taken its toll upon the missing-nin, though. Hinata could see the maturity in those blue eyes, burning amongst the flame of determination. The child-like, playful innocence had almost disappeared, leaving behind a more solemn, serious look which almost reminded her of Mardonius, who still had not yet returned. Most of all, Hinata could not help but to notice his bare forehead, where he used to wear his ninja headband.

"Hin…Hinata?" Naruto could only mutter.

---

The very first thing that Naruto felt when he saw Hinata's face was a mixture of emotions. On one hand, he was very much surprised that a shinobi from the Leaf would find him, here in one of the most remote corners of the forest. On the other, he felt glad that it was Hinata, not any other shinobi, who had found him. He still could not face Sakura, and so far the only one he was most familiar with was Hinata. However, as he noticed the mask of a hunter-nin on the ground amongst a bundle of clothes, Naruto feared the consequences. Either he had to fight Hinata, who was obviously looking for him, or he had to return to the Leaf, which was something he still was not ready for.

He could still remember that faithful day when Sasuke left the village. Naruto could still recall his words to Sakura, "I will bring him back. Promise of a lifetime…"

Naruto clutched his fists. It was that promise that kept him away from the Leaf village, his homeland. If there was anything more important to him than becoming the Hokage, it was keeping his word. He could not return, not without Sasuke, for he had promised to someone important to him to bring the young Uchiha back. Naruto could not even imagine facing Sakura without Sasuke, either following him willingly or dragged in a bundle of cords.

Thus when Jiraiya resuscitated him from the river, Naruto simply refused to return, even when the sennin told him that it was over, Sasuke was already gone. Naruto insisted, saying that he would plunge himself right into the heartland of the Sound if that would bring Sasuke back, and he would do that alone if necessary.

Despite this, Naruto allowed himself to be persuaded to let his body recuperate from the wounds first. He and Jiraiya found an abandoned hut nearby in an obscure part of the forest, and there they stayed as Naruto recovered and, later on, trained. He realized the large gap between him and Sasuke, and to bring Sasuke back he would have to become stronger, much stronger.

On the first day he trained in his own way, which was a series of running, punching and practices in chakra control, until he collapsed onto the ground unconscious. Seeing that Naruto might get himself killed with such intense training, Jiraiya decided to take the matter into his own hands and began to teach the young ninja what he knew. Naruto may be a bit thick in the head, but his determination to practice allowed him to take in most of Jiraiya's advices and skills. Thanks to the sennin's guidance, Naruto increased his already astonishing stamina and, most of all, he could now utilize and fully control almost all of the Kyubi's chakra, which allowed him to learn more jutsu.

Teaching and training Naruto were not the only things that Jiraiya did. Very often the sennin would spend his time hiding in the bushes in the riverside, peeping at bathing women with his lewd expression, which Naruto hated and felt very embarrassed about, since for some reason he, too, began to feel like joining him as well. To counter this, Naruto trained himself hard while the "super pervert" was on his rampage of perversion.

In the end, however, Naruto could take it no longer. He deliberately searched for Jiraiya and, finding him hiding inside the bush, bashed him on the head.

However, seeing a very naked Hinata was the last thing he expected.

When Naruto realized that Hinata was nude, everything about going back to the Leaf left his mind. His breathing quickened and turned shallow, and he could feel the warmth gathering in his face. It was not the first time that he had seen a naked woman: he had done so many times in his pranks back in Konoha years ago. However, they never stir up anything like this before. Naruto could feel the warmth gathering deep inside his chest, like a fire starting to burn. As Hinata blushed and attempted to cover herself with her hands, the fire intensified, much to Naruto's surprise and confusion.

When Naruto saw past Hinata and noticed the bat-winged woman behind, his reaction was even more unexpected. Finding her nude, the young ninja tried to turn away, but he could not, as if his neck was frozen and his head being held by invisible hands.

"A Nathmenid?" a familiar voice whispered in his head. Naruto winced. It was from deep inside him, and he had no trouble recognizing its owner. "Here? NO!"

At first, Naruto felt a sudden surge of power, flowing out from the seal in his stomach. The leakage intensified exponentially, and he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He clutched his stomach, sweating with agony. The pain came again and again as more and more chakra flew out, like water bursting from a crack in a dam. When the power exploded inside him, Naruto knew that the seal was literally broken. He could feel the evil chakra coursing through him as the Kyubi began to dominate, controlling his body wherever the chakra went. Naruto tried to force it back down with his will, but to no effect: the Kyubi was simply too powerful and too fast for him. Soon, Naruto was forced to succumb to the youma's will.

"Nar…Naruto?" Hinata's terrified wimp was the last thing Naruto heard before he lost control.

---

Mardonius casually walked through the forest with an armful of dry sticks tucked under his armpit as he scanned the ground for more. He looked up, his face picking up a cooling breeze as he began to enjoy himself being in the forest.

It had been weeks since he and Atossa began to wander in this forest, the largest one so far they found in the human lands, and even so he still could not stop appreciating its beauty. It was not as huge as the one that he used to explore with Atossa when they were young, but it was enough to make him marvel at the lushness of the leaves and the cooling winds as they gently brushed against Mardonius' face. His ears picked up the music of the birds, and his eyes admired the colourful scenes of nature.

The demon turned back, his mind wondering about Atossa. "Most probably still bathing," he thought, and then blushed. He could still very much remember what happened when he first set his eyes upon her body. The Nathmenid smiled and shook his head, and then let out a small sigh.

It was way back when he was still a teenager, the days before university. Back then he lived in Nathpolis, capital of the Nathmenid Empire. At that time, Atossa was one of the "beauties" of Nathpolis, and Kunbujiya was his best mate.

It was not his idea at the time. It was Kunbujiya, a well-known prankster around the Capital region, who half-pulled, half-persuaded him into the riverside. Mardonius could still recall the way that blood burst out of his nostrils, and that he fell backwards, banging his head on a rock. Of course that gave the game away, and it was lucky that Atossa did not mind at all. In fact, she laughed until her sides ached , and it became a joke that occasionally would become a topic of discussion.

Mardonius let out a small sigh. He could still remember the sound of Kunbujiya's laughter, the playful, cunning look on his face, as if he was still living in the Nathpolis, fooling around with his best mate by his side. How things had become so different!

Something broke his revere as the Nathmenid suddenly grew tense and turned around, the red eyes looking back at where he left the others in the riverside. He squinted as he concentrated on his sensations, which detected a strong and demonic power source from that direction he was staring at. Such power he had only read about and felt only once, yet those few experiences were enough for him to determine what it was.

A Ghost Demon!

Quick as wind, Mardonius threw down his firewood. Before they could touch the ground, the Nathmenid was already gone.

---

Atossa stared with stunned eyes at the blonde man as his eyes turned orange and his fingernails grew long, her Nathmenid sensations overwhelmed by the power that was leaking out.

Even though she had never seen anything like this before, such intense power told her enough that it was the power of one of the nine youma, powerful demons secondary only to the mightiest of the Nathmenid elite. As far as she knew, eight of the youma were already sealed. This could only be this youma: the Kyubi, the nine-tailed fox demon. She was a bit surprised to find it sealed inside a human, for she never thought that any human being could be powerful enough to seal a youma.

For one thing, the Nathmenid was glad. She had won the race against the King of the Dead in the search for the last of the youma. The first part of her and Mardonius' plan had succeeded. If only they could seal the Kyubi away from the King's reach, then maybe they would be safe from his clutches.

However, at the same time the uncomfortable feeling of doubt and worry coursed throughout her body as she bit her bottom lip. Atossa knew very well that despite the fact that she was from one of the seven family, she was still an underage. Her full powers were still sealed, locked up until an adult perform the unsealing spell in a coming-of-age ceremony. With the powers that she could utilize, she knew there was no way that she could deal with the Kyubi.

As the she-demon looked at the now completely possessed blonde man, she wondered what the Kyubi would do next, now that it seemed to have almost broken the very seal that was holding it. Most probably it would run away, which was something that most demons do when they encountered a Nathmenid. Atossa could not allow that: she could not allow this chance to slip away. Too much was at stake here. It would be most ironic if the King, or rather, most likely one of his agents, found it after its escape. She may not have another chance. She must somehow contain it until Mardonius arrived.

Atossa held her hands up and concentrated. As the warmth of her energy gather between her palms, she wondered if she would be quick enough before the Kyubi was gone.

---

Hinata was forced to turn around as a forceful gust of wind exploded from Naruto. She opened her eyes and saw that her love was engulfed in an orange flame. She could only stare in horror at the two evil, fox-like eyes glaring at her. His face was completely twisted with murderous intent. The hunter-nin tried to move, but found that her legs were frozen with fear.

"This…. This cannot be Naruto!" she thought to herself as the Naruto-like creature turned around.

For a moment Hinata stared as Naruto dropped to all fours and began to run away. Then out of a sudden, she heard the sound of splashing water, and he was already down, pinned to the ground by the weight of Atossa. Somehow Hinata never saw her leaving the water.

Naruto struggled, and flung an arm at the she-demon, who was instantly thrown off, her body crashing onto the dry earth. As if sensing that she was weaker than him, Naruto turned around and lunged.

Hinata felt a gust of wind as a vague shadow slammed at Naruto, knocking him away. There was not even time for her to turn around before Mardonius pinned the young ninja at the trunk of a tree with his hand holding him up by the collar of his shirt. It was so fast that it looked as if the demon appeared out of nowhere. The Nathmenid held out his other hand to his face, closed his eyes and muttered a few words at his hand. Hinata saw blue flames appearing at each fingertip. Mardonius then slammed the fingers at Naruto's stomach.

The orange flame disappeared. Naruto's eyes turned to normal before they closed and his fingernails shrunk back to their original size. When Mardonius carefully laid Naruto down onto the ground, Hinata saw that the young ninja was unconscious. The Nathmenid then rushed to Atossa to help her back onto her feet, whispering words of comfort into her ears.

"Mardonius?" a voice beside Hinata asked. She turned around, and found that Jiraiya was standing, his jaw dropping. His lecherous look was completely gone, replaced by a look of surprise and puzzlement. "Is that you?"


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 

There was a moment of silence as Hinata looked at the toad sennin walking towards Mardonius, her eyes widened with surprise. Out of all things in the world, the last that she expected was Jiraiya to know Mardonius. Not only that, from his tone and voice, the sennin sounded as if he had known the Nathmenid for years. Hinata looked at Mardonius again, who looked up with a puzzled look on his face. His expression brightened with realization.

"Jiraiya!" he cried. "Your memory serves better than mine, old friend."

With Jiraiya's attention drawn away, Hinata took the chance to get out of the water and gathered her clothes. However, she kept her eyes and ears on Jiraiya and Mardonius as she dressed herself.

"Ha, of course, Mardonius!" Hinata heard Jiraiya crying out. "You don't think I am the sort of person who forgets friends, do you?"

Mardonius smiled. "Not exactly," he replied, "though it will not be surprising if you had. After all, twenty years is a long time for humans. In fact, that is already around a third of the average human lifespan, for..."

"Still the old Mardonius that I know," Jiraiya smiled and reached over the demon's wings to pat his back. "How're things going?"

"Surviving, Jiraiya. Lots of things to talk about, lots of things."

As Hinata put on her Chunnin vest and hung her hunter-nin mask around her neck, she saw Mardonius' eyes making a quick dart to Naruto's inert body. She then walked up to the unconscious form of Naruto and kneeled down to check up on him.

Jiraiya let out a loud whistle.

"Who's this hot babe?" he asked, his eyes staring at Atossa's bare body, which was wrapped around with her wings, with a lecherous grin.

Mardonius cleared his throat loudly. "Jiraiya, mind if I let you know that it's my lady who is standing in front of you?" His red eyes glared.

"Wow, easy, Mardonius, easy," the sennin waved his hands. "I just want to know her name, that's all."

"The name is Atossa, Jiraiya," Atossa clutched her fist on her chest. "I've heard quite a bit about you from Mardonius." She smiled as she bowed, paying no heed to the lewd eyes that was staring at her body.

"Mardonius?" Hinata asked. The demon turned his attention towards her and the body that lay on the ground. "Is he…? What did you…?"

"Oh yes," Jiraiya looked as if he had suddenly realized that Naruto was unconscious. "Did you just reinforce the seal?" He asked Mardonius.

"Yes, and that's what I was about to ask you," Mardonius replied. "What's the Nine Tails doing inside that poor man?"

"Nine Tails?" Hinata asked.

"Kyubi," Jiraiya answered flatly. "Kyubi Kitsune."

Hinata's jaws dropped open as she looked at the Nathmenid in disbelief.

"The Kyubi? You don't mean…"

"Well, since the Third is dead, I think that it's all right to let you know," Jiraiya shrugged and sighed. "Yes, indeed, it is the Nine-tailed Fox Kyubi. Exactly the one who attacked the village seventeen years ago…"

Jiraiya then continued to explain what happened, but Hinata was only half listening as absolute shock took over. She knew that the Kyubi was defeated by Yondaime, but she never expected that it was not killed. Moreover, she never guessed that it was Naruto inside whom the monster was sealed. All that hatred and ostracism against him suddenly became all clear to her. As the vessel for the demon fox, Naruto must have reminded others of the carnage that the monster had left behind. This was all too understandable.

However, instead of fear, Hinata felt pity; pity for Naruto who had no choice in becoming the vessel for the demon fox, pity for Naruto who was hated for what he was, not what he had done. Her mind then recalled the determination, the force of will that Naruto had. It all became even more admirable to her now and Hinata felt that she had understood the man she loved for the past five years even more.

"Ah," Mardonius' voice broke her reverie. "I see. The Yondaime was most honourable in his sacrifice. He has my respect."

Figuring out that the Yondaime must have got himself killed in the sealing process, Hinata agreed. Out of a sudden something came into her mind. "But what happens if the Kyubi breaks the seal? Will Naruto-kun…"

"I'll never let that happen, Hinata," Mardonius replied. "I will not see any harm come to his man, if I am able. You can trust me on this matter." The Nathmenid turned to Hinata, his eyes a fiery red as they looked darkly at her. "For the sake of his life, and everyone else's for that matter, I cannot let the Kyubi escape." For a moment Hinata felt fear from his serious outlook, the authoritative aura gathering in the demon once again.

Apparently, Jiraiya detected his change as well. "Calm down, Mardonius," the toad sennin held out his hands. "No need to get so tense in here. You're over-reacting."

"Indeed," Mardonius replied as he closed his eyes and relaxed.

However, Hinata could see the grief gathering in Mardonius' red eyes, despite the fact that the Nathmenid was trying to hide it. She could see him struggling against something painful in his heart, something that he did not wish to let out.

Jiraiya looked at the sky. "Oh, it's getting dark around here," he said as he saw the dark clouds gathering. "Let's all head back to our hut. It's just around the corner. Mardonius," the senin smiled. "We have a lot to catch up."

---

With Hinata carrying Naruto on her back, it did not take them very long before a small hut appeared out of the thick leaves on a riverbank. Dwarfed by the trees, it was not surprising that Naruto and Jiraiya could hide there undetected for the past five years. The hut was very simple in design. At the front were two windows, which were simply two black holes on the yellow mud-brick wall, like two large eyes that greeted their approach. In between the windows there was a wooden door, which consisted of a dozen or so irregular boards that were nailed together in random ways, criss-crossing each other in a chaotic fashion as if the wind itself blew the wooden boards and nails and join them randomly to form a door. The roof consisted of yellow hay piled up at the top of the building, which was not much higher than Jiraiya's head.

Jiraiya approached the door and kicked it open, smashing it in with a loud crash. The sennin went inside as Hinata and others stared in utter surprise. Atossa raised one of her eyebrows as she and Mardonius looked at each other.

"What are you doing?" Jiraiya came out, waving his hand. "Come in."

Hinata saw Atossa making a small shrug as she approached the door first. It was quite dark inside the hut with the sunlight shinning through holes in the roof in long orange fingers as the light source. However, Hinata's eyes could still make out the details under the hazy light. It was a lousy, messy room. At the center was a large table, its broken pieces nailed together by wooden boards, made with the same technique as the door. Surrounding it were chairs, all of them were pieces boarded together as one. At the two corners at the back of the hut were two hard wooden boards each with a grey, ragged sheet and a large, wooden log placed at an end for a pillow. On the floor scattered the bodies of dead bugs, looking as if the place hadn't been swept for years.

"Put Naruto here," Jiraiya commanded, pointing to one of those beds. Hinata heeded as she placed Naruto gently onto the board, covering him up with the sheet.

Atossa then entered, followed by Mardonius, who had to bend down just to squeeze through the shorter doorway.

"Sorry about the mess," the sennin said to the Nathmenid couple. "I didn't really expect to have any visitors."

"It's all right," Atossa held up her hand. "I've seen much worse." She untied the knots behind her neck and on her waist and stripped herself of her dress, which was still wet. "Where can I dry these?" she asked innocently as she held out her clothes, completely ignoring her bareness.

Mardonius instantly blushed red as a tomato as he settled himself on one of the chairs and tried not to turn his head to look. Jiraiya's eyes lit up instantly. Hinata raised an eyebrow. "Oh well," she let out a sigh. "Here we go again," she thought.

There was silence for a while as Jiraiya continued to leer at the she-demon's body, twisting his fingers in front of him as if desiring to land them upon Atossa. "Well?" the she-demon asked, cocking her head to a side.

"Oh, yes, yes, yes," the sennin replied. "I'll get the firewood at the back of the hut. Wait here." He rushed out of the hut, not forgetting to give Atossa a last look. The Nathmenid shook her head with a half-grin as she settled beside Mardonius.

"Ah, Atossa, I think I'll help with the firewood," the embarrassed demon said as he got up and left.

"What's with you people and nudity?" she asked Hinata as the ninja settled on another chair. "I mean, back in Nathpolis I can literally walk in the streets without a stitch on and no one cares."

Turning her head to the door where Mardonius just went through, Hinata doubted Atossa's words. "Well," she gestured to the door. "He cares."

Atossa looked at the door, and then burst out laughing. "Don't be fooled! He isn't what he pretends to be." she continued and told Hinata about what happened that time when Mardonius and his friend Kunbujiya went to peep on her bathing.

"What?" Hinata widened her eyes. Never would she have guessed that Mardonius, the shy, innocent demon, would do such a thing. "So he's a closet pervert?"

"Well, not exactly," Atossa replied. "I reckoned that Kunbujiya dragged him to it. Anyway…" she carried on to tell the hunter-nin how blood rushed out of Mardonius' nostrils and how the Nathmenid collapsed onto the ground unconscious. Hinata burst out laughing, her mind flying to the rumours about Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu. Looking at the she-demon now, Hinata had no trouble understanding why Mardonius reacted that way. With her charms, Atossa certainly had the same effect to all who looked at her, especially when she had no clothes on.

"And since then," Atossa finished. "He'll blush red whenever he sees me naked."

Something the she-demon mentioned crossed Hinata's mind. "Who's Kunbujiya?"

"Oh, he's from one of the seven noble families," Atossa replied and let out a sigh. "He was a good friend to me and Mardonius."

Hinata instantly picked up the sorrow in the Nathmenid's tone. "What happened to him?"

The hunter-nin was the she-demon opening her mouth to take in a small breath. Atossa darted her eyes to the door. Her red eyes darted back towards the table, and Hinata could see that she was making some quick thinking. "He... um… He..." Atossa began as she looked back at Hinata, but was interrupted by Mardonius' voice.

"He's the reason why we're here."

They both looked back at the doorway. Standing there was Mardonius, his red eyes glaring with the most intense rage that Hinata had ever seen in him. She could sense the aura of dominance rolling off him like the chill coming out of ice. Out of a sudden, she was afraid of him.

"And most probably he is the reason why there is a wraith out there, Hinata."

Jiraiya, who was standing behind the demon all that time, cried out.

"What?"


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

There was heavy silence in the hut after Jiraiya's exclamation.

"There is a wraith here, in the shinobi lands?" Jiraiya asked again.

Hinata looked at Jiraiya in total surprise. "How on Earth did you know..."

"Yes, Jiraiya," Mardonius interrupted. "And it's after her," he pointed a finger at Hinata to emphasize the point. "Though I doubt that is the true reason he is sent here."

"But... but," Jiraiya began. "No spiritual demon has set ever foot outside Akatsuki no Teikoku! The Nathmenids, you people, has always keep those things under control..."

"Well, now things have changed," said Mardonius.

"Hang on," Hinata said. "You mean someone from goodness knows how far away has sent a demon here just to kill me?"

"No," Mardonius replied. "As I've said, that was not his true purpose. That is his true purpose." The demon pointed at Naruto.

There was another silence after the exclamation. Both Jiraiya and Hianta stared at Mardonius as though he was crazy.

"O...kay."

"Oh for the love of _Kunka_," Atossa let out a sigh. "How the hell did you ever become a lecturer, Mardonius? You suck at telling stories."

Mardonius looked at her, and nodded.

"Indeed, that was terrible," he said. "I guess I should begin from the beginning."

Mardonius placed his pile of wood to a side and settled himself onto a chair beside Atossa. Jiraiya put down his and sat on the opposite side. The Nathmenid took a deep breath, then released it with a deep sigh.

"To understand this entire affair, there's something that you'll need to know: the _Dunsotahaea Kajunhaea kunjodotaea_, Spell of Raising Dead."

"Spell of Raising Dead?" Hinata asked.

Without a word, Mardonius reached down under his chair and picked something up. When he opened his palm, Hinata saw that it was a dead cockroach, the body still very much intact. The Nathmenid closed his eyes in deep concentration, his mouth muttering inaudible words. His palm glowed with a green light. Sweat began to form in his forehead, and Hinata could see veins began to bulge out on his forehead. Out of a sudden, the dead cockroach sprung into life, leaping back onto its legs, its antennae waving. Hinata let out a gasp.

"This is the result of the two papers that I wrote back in the days when I was in the uni..."

"Uni?" Hinata asked.

"University of the Eastern Satrapy, that is where Mardonius got his PhD in biology and spiritual magics," Atossa replied. Hinata looked at her in utter confusion.

"Let's say, Hinata, that universities are places like the academy for the Nathmenids, and PhD is like a rank," Jiraiya explained.

"And 'papers' are articles that Nathmenid scholars write in order to communicate their ideas about things they've studied," Atossa added.

Mardonius waited for a while until they all quieted down, then continued. "I talked about the theory that allows telepathy and reanimation of dead bodys in my papers, 'Reanimation of Muscles Within a Deceased Body: the Theory' and 'Possibility of Long Distance Non-verbal Communication Between Separate Minds'." He closed his eyes for a while, and the cockroach literally stood up on its back legs and started to dance on the open palm. "My ideas give rise to the development of the Spell of Raising Dead, and the result can be seen here."

"Let me guess, somehow Kunbujiya learned of this and began using it," Jiraiya said. Mardonius nodded.

"It isn't that simple, of course. While maintaining mental control is not much of an issue, the reanimating requires quite a substantial amount of energy. In fact, the amount of magical energy I just burnt to reanimate this cockroach here is enough to summon Gama Bunta." Jiraiya let out a whistle.

"That's a lot of chakra."

"Yes, and the larger the corpse, the more energy required," replied Mardonius. "Therefore at that time I never thought the spell would have any use in practice, not to mention on top of that there's ethical and moral issues surrounding such a skill."

"Let me guess," Jiraiya interruped. "Kunbujiya somehow learnt of this and find a way to use it properly."

"Yes," Mardonius replied. "Though we do not know it at that time, Kunbujiya was also studying about the spell, trying to find a way to lower the energy required. I don't think he ever succeeded though, and that's where the Nine Tails, or rather the Ghost Demons, come into play."

"How does the youma..." Jiraiya asked. "OH!" his eyes went wide with realization.

"Yes, Jiraiya, he began sealing the youma into himself. Instead of lowering the energy needed, he gained the energy source for himself. While raising just one dead pure-human will exhaust him, with the power of even one youma he could raise tens of thousands of pure-human corpses, or thousands of unstoppable, unkillable Nathmenid bodies...

"Obviously I learnt that only much later, and the following as well. During the celebration of King Daryavaush's hundredth anniversary of his reign, Kunbujiya raised an army of zombies that slaughtered everyone there in Nathpolis, the Nathmenid capital," the demon suddenly stiffened and looked away.

Jiraiya opened his mouth. "You father... Daraya. He is the _hazarapatish _of the Immortal Army, is he not?"

"He... he was," Mardonius replied, and closed his eyes.

"Was..."

"My entire family was in that celebration. The Immortal Army was completely wiped out by the Undead."

"Immortal Army?" Hinata asked.

"It's the Nathmenid elite troops," Jiraiya explained. "They're all the king's bodyguards and all held the title 'king's companion'. These made up the backbone of the Nathmenid army." Atossa and Mardonius nodded.

The hunter-nin looked at the sennin in amazement. She knew that Jiraiya was Mardonius' friend, but there was no way that he could have understood the world of the demons so well.

"How do you know all this?" she asked.

"My father was a great friend of the Sannins," Mardonius smiled, though his eyes were teary. "Just as he told me the tales about Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru, he must have told him a lot about the Nathmenids. Also, Jiraiya learnt a lot when he came to my satrapy for a visit twenty years ago, and I must say the demonic world does not change much in ten years."

Even after the Nathmenid's explanation, Hinata still could not help but to stare at Jiraiya in astonishment. It suddenly occurred to her that the sennin's depth of knowledge was far greater than she could possibly imagine. Just exactly how much Jiraiya knew about the demons she could not possibly guess.

"When that happened, Mardonius and I were on our way to the celebration," Atossa continued with the story. "We were most shocked when a dying messenger told us what happened. We knew our history, and knew that often new usurpers would order mass killings, particularly those of the noble familes. We are from the Seven Noble Clans, the most powerful of all the noble clans. The new King Kunbujiya would come after us when he realized we were not at the celebration, so we fled the Empire.

"We didn't exactly know what had happened then. It was, like Mardonius said, only years after wandering around the Ninja Lands that we learnt that Kunbujiya sealed youma inside himself and everything."

Mardonius nodded. "We found Hahamunita, who served under Kunbujiya's reign for several years before he left. He told us that King Kunbujiya already had five youmas in him, and the King was looking for more, trying to get all of them. That was the last thing he told us before he died of the wounds that the Cloud Villagers gave him."

"He's got eight," Atossa chimed in. "He should had that by now. Only the Nine Tails avoided capture because it came here and attacked the Leaf. That was when we decided to look for the Kyubi instead of just hiding."

"Wait a minute," Hinata interrupted. "You've already left the Empire back then?"

"Yes," Atossa replied, looking a bit puzzled.

"Wasn't that like seventeen years ago?" Hinata asked. "That would make you... around three?"

Atossa looked at her in surprise. "What makes you think that I was three then?"

"Well… you don't look more than twenty…"

Mardonius smiled. "We are much older than we look, Hinata. The Nathmenids age far more slowly than pure-humans do. For every five years we age two years equivalent to pure-humans. Atossa's currently forty-five, while I've gone through sixty-two winters by now."

"Ah-ha," Jiraiya nodded. "Though you looked tweleve when I first met you forty years ago," he furrowed his brows in puzzlement.

"We grew and mature in the same rate as you pure-humans," Mardonius explained. "Our childhood and puberty last almost at the same length of time. It is our prime years that last for a much longer amount of time. We DO have human blood within us, after all."

"Oh, okay," Hinata muttered as she stood corrected. At the back of her mind she made a mental note that despite the similar appearance with the exception of the wings and horns, the Nathmenids were very different in many ways from human beings.

"Once we knew about the whereabouts of the Nine Tails, we decided to head off to the Konoha, the Leaf," Mardonius continued. "While Kunbujiya had the power to control legions and legions of animated corpses, it isn't enough for him to not to have trouble controlling them all if he sends them too far from Nathpolis. He would need the power of Nine Tails, and thus we decided to stop him from getting it. That is why we're here, for if he could obtain the Nine Tails, no one in this world will be safe from him."

"I see," Jiraiya said.

Hinata suddenly remembered something. "That wraith... could he be sent by Kun-whatever-his-name?"

"That's what we believe," Mardonius turned around to Jiraiya "If so, that means the King of the Dead has informants scattered around here, in the Ninja Lands. He must have known about Naruto and the Nine Tails by now."

"Speaking of Naruto," Jiraiya interrupted as he turned to the sleeping ninja. "What do you intend to do to him now?"

The Nathmenids both shook their heads. "We don't know," the she-demon replied. "When we heard that the Kyubi was defeated we thought that it would be sealed inside something more… unanimated. Then we could use our powers to contain it and re-seal it somewhere safer, like under the sea or something. Now that it's inside someone..."

"And particularly when the Nine Tails energy is beginning to fuse into the host's spirit," Mardonius chimed in. "It would be very, very dangerous for the host to try to extract the demonic power from him now. It would damage Naruto's soul."

"What should we do then?" asked Jiraiya. "Obviously we cannot just leave the Kyubi alone inside Naruto."

Mardonius closed his eyes and thought for a second. Then he replied.

"I know of a spell that could allow us to single out the demonic spirit of the Nine Tails from its power. We could take out the powerless Ghost Demon and re-seal only that instead. Its power can stay inside the seal and away from harm. That is the best solution," the Nathmenid mused for a moment, then added. "However, if that is going to be done it must begin now. It is a very complex process and I'm afraid that we might not have much time."

"Why's that?" Hinata, who only understood half of what Mardonius just said, asked about the part she did.

"The Tower of Doom has been lit" the demon replied, "two times."

"It is lit?" Atossa furrowed her brows. "But..."

"I've seen it with my own eyes," Mardonius replied. "Only just this morning did the green light shone twice from the west."

"What are you on about?" Hinata asked.

"The Tower of Doom is the tower situated at the mouth of the Pass," Jiraiya explained. "It is one of the few connections between the Empire and the Ninja Lands."

"But what do you mean by 'the green light'? What happens when it is lit?" the hunter-nin continued.

"The Tower works as a beacon, to gather troops and men," replied Mardonius. "And it also means that King Kunbujiya has his sights upon here, and I fear the worst."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"The worst?" Jiraiya asked. "What do you mean 'worst'?"

Mardonius looked at him, and wondered if he should tell them what he thought. He had no direct evidence for it, yet it was their land that was at sake...

"The Tower of Doom, like any other outposts, serves as a gathering point for troops," replied Mardonius. He paused for a moment, then continued. How should he put this? "I think he is gathering an army there."

"But what would he..." Jiraiya began, then gasped when he realized what Mardonius was saying.

"Yes, Jiraiya, I think it is time for the villages to prepare themselves for war," Mardonius replied. Atossa gasped.

"But... but that is crazy!" Atossa said. "Why would he send entire armies to invade the human lands just to get his hands onto Naruto?"

"That I do not know, Atossa," Mardonius replied.

"He might just be calling back that wraith!"

"No, I doubt that," Mardonius turned around. "The light shone for a least a couple of minutes. That means that it is not just calling onto an individual, but rather it is calling for other outposts and barricks to send men to gather within the Tower of Doom."

Atossa took a deep breath. "But... sending an army here just to catch Nine Tails... That is crazy!"

"I know. That's why I'm not too sure myself," replied Mardonius. "But there can be no other explanation: he is gathering an army there. For what purpose I know not, but it is safer to be on the alert at least.

"I agree," Jiraiya said. "Better err on the side of caution rather than regretting carelessness later."

"We must warn the Hokage about this." Hinata asked. Mardonius turned around, and saw her biting her bottom lip before continuing to ask, "But would she believe us?"

"She will," Jiraiya replied. "Tsunade know about the Empire of Dawn, too. Though she didn't know the full extent of its power."

Mardonius rested his head onto his hands. "However, only one of us can go and warn her," as Jiraiya and Hinata turned to him in surprise, he continued. " I need two people to help me to split the Nine Tails from its power, or risk a Kyubi rampage upon the Konoha."

Jiraiya nodded. "I'll go," he replied and raised his hand when Hinata tried to object. "I can travel much fast then you can, Hinata. Also, we don't know if you'll meet that wraith on your way. Even though he might be summoned back to the Empire." The hunter-nin could only nod at his reasoning.

"Make haste, Jiraiya," the demon said. "_Kunkaea saskunikaeana baskasna_." Jiraiya gave a final nod, then headed for the door and left.

Mardonius turned his attention back to Atossa and Hinata. Deep in heart the demon felt relief that Jiraiya had volunteered to return to Konoha. Besides the fact that a wraith was after Hinata, the Nathmenid also knew her love for the Kyubi vessel, which would help with the spell. As the girls looked at him, Mardonius got up from his chair.

"Well, we mustn't waste time here," he said. "As soon as our task is done we shall return to the Leaf and offer our services. Hope that time will be sufficient. Come," he gestured to Naruto as he walked up to him, "I'll explain what we'll have to do step by step. First, let's put the table and the chairs aside. Space is going to be required for this…"

---

Naruto stood there with his eyes staring in awe as the reddish form of the Kyubi repeatedly bashed itself against the enormous gates that had it caged.

It was not the first time that the blonde-haired ninja came face to face with the monster that was sealed inside him, but he never saw the Kyubi in this state: fear was rolling off the youma like chilling heat from a radiator, and Naruto could also see the panic as the demon twisted and turned to free itself from its bonds. However, the gates held on despite being only held together by only two pieces of paper… two pieces of paper?

Naruto squinted and walked closer to the banging gates. He saw that instead of just one piece of paper with the kanji "seal" written on it, there was another one stuck right on top. Drawn on it was a symbol that Naruto had never seen before: a crucifix with a triangle behind it, and at the sides of the triangle was a pair of wings. The blonde was about to touch it when he suddenly heard voices.

"Ah, now that we are here," It was a deep voice, and Naruto could hear the relief in the tone, "the rest should not be as hard, though tedious it maybe."

"Where are we?" a feminine, familiar voice asked. Naruto widened his eyes in surprise. It sounded strangely like Hinata. She couldn't be here, could she? The blonde instinctively approached the corner of the walls where the voices seemed to be coming from. He peeked around, and found Hinata with a pair of winged people, one of whom he recognized to be the winged girl he saw before he passed out, only this time she was dressed. Naruto took a breath in surprise, his mind in turmoil: how did they get here, in a place where even Naruto himself had no idea about? Behind him, Naruto could hear the sound of the banging increasing in intensity.

"We're inside Naruto's body," the winged girl replied.

As Hinata gasped, the winged man explained, "Not exactly, this is the realm of Naruto's imagination, a mental dimension of his physical interior where the Kyubi resides in its true form. To separate the Kyubi's power and the Kyubi itself we need the Kyubi's true form. This is where we can reach it. You can come out, Naruto," the man called out, his red, glowing eyes looking behind him. "We are not going to hurt you."

Naruto gasped in surprise. How did he notice his presence? However, since he was now discovered there was no choice for him. For better or for worse, he took a deep breath and walked towards the trio.

"Na… Naruto-kun…" Hinata instantly blushed in his presence as she twitched her fingers. She suddenly looked up. "This is Mardonius and this is Atossa," she introduced the two winged figures at her side. Mardonius bowed. "They are on our side."

"I have been anticipating you, Mr Uzumaki Naruto," Mardonius said. "We are here to deal with the Kyubi, for it is no longer safe for it to stay here."

"Yeah, I heard you," Naruto replied. Had he been younger he would not have noticed Mardonius' previous words. However, after five years of training with Jiraiya his perception grew. "You're going to separate his power or something, right?" The winged man smiled.

"Perceptive for a young man," he commented.

Naruto grinned. "The Kyubi is around that corner," he pointed. There were other questions in his mind, but the blonde knew that they could wait. Mardonius nodded.

"Lead the way."

---

Beyond the Imperial Wall there lay a forest, filled with trees bare of leaves, the twisted branches forming a labyrinth of ashen-grey. Over the sky were dense clouds, blocking the sunlight that this corrupt land of death so desperately needed. Further west there was the barren plain, the soil darkening as it neared a square-shaped city that lay in the midst of the tainted ground, where the land was at its blackest and most corrupted form. The thick, black clouds above meant that the city was covered in darkness, only to be illuminated by an occasion streaks of lightning. The sound of the chilling wind echoed within the walls, accompanied by loud booms of thunder breaking through the stench of corruption and decay. This was the city of Nathpolis, the once glorious capital of the Empire of Dawn.

Figurines erected here and there amongst the buildings within the white, marble walls, falling apart with their colours fading from lack of maintenance, mocking the city of its former glory. The city itself was practically lifeless, save for occasional Nathmenid guards marching in groups. However, even that was a poor imitation with a more horrifying and evil nature. The guards' eyes were leaden, dead and glowed of a sickening greenish colour. The smell of rotting flesh poured from their thick, rusting armour, and parts of their body were striped of skin, sometimes flesh, revealing the level of decay underneath. These were no ordinary soldier- they were King Kunbujiya's elite undead troops, a mimic of the living soldiers they once were.

When they marched past a rectangular building in the centre of the city, they were watched by a pair of red, glowing eyes staring through a window. Their owner was a tall, thin Nathmenid, his face little more than a thin layer of skin covering his skull. His pair of wings hung like rotten cloth behind his back. On his head was a crown, rusted with the corruption that its owner was feeding it. His long, dull red cloak, worn with fading colours, was a ridiculous mimic of the glory of all the Nathmenid kings before him, but King Kunbujiya minded little as his head focused on something else, something in the past.

As he looked at the dark, deserted streets of Nathpolis, he thought back to the days before he claimed the throne. He could still remember the pain he faced as he was spat on as a member of the Datunya family. He was considered to be a genius when he finished his diploma within two years instead of the five it normally would take. However, when Marduniya became the youngest satrap in five generations, Kunbujiya could only manage to scrap an infantry position in the Immortal Army. He was never insulted openly, but Kunbujiya could hear the mocking in the hearts of everyone, even in that traitor Marduniya, who poised as his friend and then stole his girl who so rightfully belonged to him. King Kunbujiya clutched his fists and felt a surge of power coursing through him as he thought about the betrayal. Now, no one was going to laugh at him. With the power of the Kyubi in his grasp, all would bow to the might of King Kunbujiya the First.

A low hum behind him broke his revere, but the King of the Dead did not need to turn his head to know that a portal had just opened. As his sharp ears caught the sound of sandals touching the marble floor, a familiar voice asked him, "What is thy bidding, your Highness?"

"Ah, Kabuto," the king turned around, and a horned human with wings, kneeling down before him, came into view. He raised his arm, a green ball appearing in the middle of the palm. The king threw the ball of energy at the surprised wraith, and it disappeared when it hit. "I have given you the telepathic control of the Invasion Army. You are to go to the Tower of Doom, where you shall join in with the Invasion Army and help with the conquest."

Kabuto gasped in surprise. "I am... honored my lord," he bowed. "But surely you know that this is folly? Sending an entire army for Kyubi?"

Kunbujiya bowed his head down a little, forcing his eyes to look up to stare at the wraith-possessed human. Had it been any other time, Kabuto would be instantly executed for his rebuke. However, he needed his knowledge of the human lands for now. "Do you think that I'll be sending my troops over to Ninja Lands just to get one youma? The Ninja Lands are the only place in the north that the Empire has yet to conquer. I shall be the one who take it for the glory of the Nathmenids."

"But... you cannot maintain communication with your Undead in such distance."

"I can, for a certain period of time," Kunbujiya dismissed the suggestion. "With the Nine Tails added to my power, I can do it indefinitely. Therefore, the Kyubi is going to be your frontmost priority."

Kabuto nodded. "Very wise, my liege," he bowed.

"You will be the second in command of the frontal army," replied the king. "General Hitstapa is already at the Gate, Kabuto." With a small thought, he opened a purple circular portal that appeared in the mid-air behind the wraith.

"We shall return victorious," Kabuto replied as he walked to the portal, and disappeared into the purple coloured disk.

Kunbujiya turned around and returned to his revere when the portal closed with a shimmering. Soon, with the power of the Kyubi in his hands, all opposition would be wiped out…

---

It was not the first time that the Tower of Doom was activated, but never was the activity this intense. The ground shook as if the land was trying to shake off the twisted building of its back. The screech thundered through the air, calling out ten times louder than before. The green lightning shot from the mouth of the tower, glowing brighter than ever as it danced wildly when it reached the black clouds above.

Then it all stopped. Everything became quiet, as if a sudden force had put all on hold.

The gate, filled with spikes like teeth, creaked open like a mouth of a monster ready to consume whatever good was left in the land. However, it spewed out a river of figures rushing out of gate like water flooding from an opened dam, led by the two flying with their wings flapping on their backs. A stench of rotten flesh filled the air, as the animated dead bodies marched forth towards East, the land of the living, underneath the banners with pictures of the skull that dotted here and there as the river of dead body flowed through. The black clouds above rolled with the army, as if to protect them from the sun above.

Soon, the entire flat-land of grey ash was stomped upon by the corpses. At the back protected at all sides by the zombies were skeletons, whose hands waving around balls of energy, glowing in a sickly green colour, as they kept the corpses animated. Several of those fired green lightning at the bones lying on the ground, which instantly flew up into the air and joined together to form animated skeletons would join in the march.

After all the skeletons were gone, the army began to diminish, like water coming out of a closing tap. When the entire army was gone, the gates closed with a loud slam.

But the black clouds remain, casting a black shadow upon the land.


	9. Interlude

**Interlude: Destruction of the Sand**

Hell was breaking loose in the Village of Sand around Sabaku no Temari as her knuckles turned white from clutching tightly onto her fan. Her eyes were scanning the streets of the Sand Village as she and her fellow shinobis were becoming surrounded by a flood of raising dead. Underneath her short blue dress and grey stomacher Temari was sweating, not from the afternoon sun, which was hidden from the thick, black clouds, but also the heat from the fire inside the surrounding buildings.

The only warning the Suna had was the black clouds that rolled from the west. Then came this hellish army of walking corpse flooded into the gates, their talons at the end of their fingers cutting through all in their way. The first to go were the shinobis carrying out minor missions on exposed sandy grounds outside the village walls. Those that survived found themselves falling back into the Sand Village, fighting for their own lives against swarms of these undying enemies. When Temari arrived, half the village was already flooded with Undead.

It took her a couple of kunai to learn that mundane weapons could not kill these creatures: they could still move while suffering from several heavy wounds. The daughter of a former Kazekage thought that her Rikiriki Mai attack just then would solve that problem as her summoned winds cut through the bodies of the invaders. To her horror the limbs of the corpses continued to move, as a hand with long claws leapt up from the ground and slashed the throat of her meek rat, which disappeared at once in a puff of smoke. On top of that her fallen comrades around her rose up when there was a sudden explosion of green light from afar. Their fingernails grew long into claws and they started to attack the living shinobis, their fellow comrades only moments before.

Sweat gathered on her forehead and underneath her blonde hair, tied up in two short bundles at the side, from both the heat from the flames. Temari wiped it away quickly as she began to reassess her situation. Aside from the smell of decay from her enemies, Temari could also picked up scents of burning flesh as several of the Undead, their bodies burning, rushed to several Sand nins. Screams of pain filled the air as flames engulfed their bodies in orange balls of fire.

Temari bit her bottom lip as her enemies closed in. Most of her chakra was depleted in her summoning before. She looked around, and found that most of her comrades were now walking corpses, snarling with their sharp teeth and claws ready to strike. There was little chance of her surviving this one. "Well," she thought to herself as she opened her fan once again. "At least I'm not going to die without a fight."

"Ryuusa Bakuryu!"

Before Temari could turn to the source of that deep, familiar voice, a sudden violent wave of sand consumed everything in front of the Sand nin, forcing her to close her eyes and reel back.

"Sabaku Taisou!"

Temari heard a loud "boom" as the ground beneath her shook.

"Come on, big sis!" This time, it was a more feminine voice that was calling.

The Sand nin opened her eyes. There, levitating in front of her in mid-air was a ball of sand, on which sat several people. Amongst them Temari recognized the red-hair man with the kanji "love" on his forehead as well as the similarly aged girl with long, black tresses. Behind them there lay a man of Temari's age in a black suit with a puppet by his side, whom the Sand nin recognized as her brother Kankuro.

Gaara had ran away three years ago, claiming that he would look for Kazeoni Kuri, and Temari had not seen him since he left. It seemed to her that his quest was a success. He was still dressed in the same outfit: black shirt, black pants, and a brown belt going from his left shoulder to his right hip. The black lines surrounding his green eyes seemed to have diminished a little, and the coldness in his eyes seemed to have warmed up a bit, but otherwise he was still the Gaara she remembered.

Kazeoni Kuri also changed little. Her long black tresses were still tied in a ponytail, and her red eyes still had that child-like innocence in them, though for the moment they glared with a solemn look. Her sense of fashion remained the same as well. She was in simple black net blouse with a long, grey robe on the top.

"Come on, big sis!" Kuri called out as she reached out a hand. Temari smiled. For some reason Kuri liked to refer people as her family members. "There's no time!" Kuri's voice broke the Sand nin's revere, reminding her of the perilous situation she was in, particularly when the sand on the ground began to stir.

"Shimatta!" Gaara growled as a hand popped out of the ground. "Don't they ever die?"

"You can't kill them," Kuri replied as she pulled Temari onto the ball of floating sand. "Let's go!"

Gaara nodded and closed his eyes to concentrate. The ball of sand lifted itself higher before the rotting hands from the ground could reach.

---

Kabuto stood at the top of the Kazekage building, his glowing red eyes filled with satisfaction as they surveyed the carnage the Undead troops had brought upon the Village of Sand. Behind him were four more demons, all wraith-possessed humans. Together with Kabuto, there were known as the Five Royal Wraiths, the commanders of this invasion force with Kabuto as the leader.

The Sand shinobis were weak, just as Kabuto had expected. With the Kazekage dead, killed by the Five, the Suna army of ninjas fell like dominos being pushed over. One by one they fell to the claws of the zombies, and one by one they joined the ranks of King Kunbujiya's Undead army.

Out of a sudden a new sensation caught his senses, and Kabuto winced. It felt just like some kind of demonic power… two demonic powers, in fact, and for a moment the wraith feared that they would be at the level of Mardonius. Not that the Five together were no match for the Vohuman, but given the chance that demon could wipe out at least a fifth of the army of a million strong in one, concentrated strike, and even with the raising spell the invasion force would take some time to recover from a blow of THAT magnitude. There was also his mysterious girlfriend Atossa, whose power was largely unknown. Kabuto did not want to meet them, not until the attack upon the Leaf at least.

However, that worry was unfounded. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that though the powers were demonic in nature, they were levels lower than that of such as Mardonius. In fact, even put together they were not anywhere near the youma level.

It was about then the general of the Undead saw a yellowish ball filled with people on top fleeing from the battlegrounds in mid-air. Kabuto could sense the demonic energies rolling off it. Just as he was wondering if he should do anything about it, he noticed that one of the wraiths near him took a step forwards.

"No, Kayun," Kabuto raised his hand as he made a decision. "They are not the youma and doesn't worth the trouble. Save your strength for the Leaf," the wraith paused for a moment. Indeed, the Konoha was far stronger than the Suna, and they should save everything they could for their next target. "Besides, we'll need some messengers to deliver our message of fear," Kabuto finished, earning a couple of chuckles behind him.

As the yellowish sphere flew out of the walls of the Sand, Kabuto and his commanders watched as the destruction commenced.

---

The headquarters of the Akatsuki organization was situated in the deserts, far beyond the most southern of the borders of the Wind. On first sights it looked very much like a large caravan, with hundreds of tents, enough to house thousands, set up besides a stream of water that flowed from a spring on the ground, on the sand like a miniature stream, until the sand absorbed all the moisture. It was not a lot of water, but it was enough to sustain the inhabitants.

The tents, along with the spring, were completely surrounded by a wall made of wood hammered deep into the sand. In this part of the world lumber, especially in this quantity, was hard to find. This showed that this camp, whatever it was, was foreign to these lands.

This fact was further enhanced by the two guards there were standing like two statues besides the large gate that was the only entrance to the site. In their long robes with glittering metal of the armour peeking from underneath, they held a long spear with their right hands. Their heads were encased inside a round, dull-coloured helmet, underneath which were a pair of red, glowing eyes below a pair of horns that curled up around the edges of their headgear. A pair of red, bat-like wings hung behind their backs and draped over their shoulders like large, red cloaks. These were Nathmenid soldiers, warriors from the lands of Akatsuki.

Out of the horizon of the sandy plains a black figure emerged. The large, black cloak with red cloud patterns the man was wearing revealed the dark purple fishnet shirt and the matching pants underneath as they fluttered behind him as he rushed towards the gate. His black eyes, almost hidden underneath his large straw hat, glared at the guards coldly as he muttered the password.

"_Soskunikaea junikaeana kunikasna._"

The two guards did not move a muscle as the wooden gate opened inwards as if by magic. Without a hesitation, the man moved in.

Inside the camp, however, the man found that most of the Nathmenid troops were out of their tents on alert. From afar, he could see that some of the troops gathered around the largest tent at the centre of the camp, which apparently was the destination that he was going towards, with their long spears pointing at the slit opening that was entrance. The man approached a nearby Nathmenid soldier whose helmet was golden in colour. The demon instantly turned to the human and clutched his fist in the Nathmenid greeting.

"Kunka-Itachi!" he bowed. "The prisoner has escaped into the High Tent. There's nothing we could do."

Uchiha Itachi merely nodded, fully aware that no soldier could enter the High Tent under the pain of death. "I bring urgent news to Roxana-sama, captain," he told the soldier as he pulled out a kunai from underneath his cloak. "Do not worry, I can handle the prisoner."

The captain nodded and barked a few commands. Slowly, several of the Nathmenid warriors backed away from the tent and raised their spears, making way for Itachi to go through.

---

High General Roxana smiled

Like all the other Nathemenids, she had a pair of bat-like wings on her back and horns on her forehead. Her chain mail rustled and the plates on her armour rattled as she lowered her hand. Her red eyes were fixed upon the grey-haired ninja in front of her, staring in amusment when the yellow, energetic bonds that held him disappeared.. Even though most of his face was hidden underneath a blue mask, the Nathmenid general could read the signs of thinking in his eyes.

"So what do you think, Kakashi?" she asked.

Her ears picked up the sound of cloth rustling behind her. She spun around with a clutter of armour, and found that her red, bat-like wings almost batted into the face of a man. She recognized his handsome features at once.

Itachi bowed. "Roxana-sama," he said. "The Undead has made their move."

"So he has finally done it," Roxana replied. "The King of Death displays his might upon the human lands. It is time for us to act." She was about to turn around to exit the tent when she heard a call from behind her. "Yes, Kakashi?"

The High General smiled as she turned her head and saw the resolution in Kakashi's eyes.

"I'll join you, Roxana," he replied. "But I'll not betray the Leaf."

"Don't worry, you won't have to," Roxana laughed as she went out and started to issue commands to her troops.


	10. Chapter 8

**Part 2: The Invasion of the Undead**

Chapter 8

The darkness of the night slowly faded as the sun rose from the horizon, its whitish light stretching into the sky and onto the ground like long thin fingers reaching for all corners of the Konoha forest. Chirps of birds began to echo in the morning air as the day began. There was little sound in the air, save for the rustling of the leaves as the branches waved in the morning breeze, as if greeting for the arrival of a new day.

It was on one of those branches where a lone figure in an orange jumpsuit tensely stood, a kunai ready in his hand. His messy blonde hair waved in the air as he turned left and right, his blue eyes darting in search for something, but the darkness of the forest basically hid everything from view. Uzumaki Naruto bit his lower lip as he clutched his weapon even more tightly, his mind racing frantically in search for a plan.

Out of a sudden, a white light flash appeared from nowhere. Naruto spun around, feeling the heat of the burning energy as it sped past in front of his nose. The white flash struck a tree-trunk nearby, and it exploded, the tree snapping into two with a loud boom in an orange ball of fire. Naruto winced as it crashed onto the ground with a loud boom.

Then from the darkness more white beams of energy came towards Naruto, and the young ninja was forced to leap away from his spot, which was attacked relentlessly by a rain of white light. The shockwave of the resulting explosion caused the blonde to lose control of his jump, and he found himself landing into something soft.

Before Naruto could do anything, an arm shot out and held him across the throat. Another hand held a white beam of light towards his face.

"Give up, Naruto?" the familiar voice from the figure asked.

"Not a chance, Mardonius!" Naruto quickly slipped himself down from the demon's grip. They were still in mid-air and he found himself falling down onto the hard ground. With his blue eyes Naruto saw the bat-winged form above him shaking his head.

---

It had already been three days since that night when Mardonius performed the ritual that allowed him, along with his comrades Hinata and Atossa, to enter the Mental Realm of Naruto where the true form of Kyubi existed. It had been a taxing experience, both physically and mentally, for Mardonius, since he had to keep part of his attention on burning his chakra in order to keep the three within Naruto's Realm. They had made good progress, however, as they had already separated the Kyubi's power from the Kyubi spirit, thanks to Hinata and Atossa's particular way of following instruction. Hinata's love, as Mardonius had correctly anticipated, was a great help as her will helped to keep the Kyubi under control while the Nathmenid performed the _Takuntaea kunjodotaea_- Separation Ritual. The powerless Kyubi was now sealed deep underground, away from the prying eyes of possible spies. All had been done according to plan.

There was still one downside to all this. As the Kyubi chakra was far too great for Naruto's body to hold all at once, Mardonius was forced to place the power inside the original seal meant for the Kyubi, and bound it with his chakra so that it was completely cut off from Naruto. Therefore for the moment the blonde could not assess the great power until the Nathmenid performed the _Yaduniea kunjodotaea_, which would create the final, permanent seal to hold the power and act as a "safety switch" that only allowed the maximum amount of chakra that the body could hold and control to be assessed.

That did not stop the blonde from challenging Mardonius for a training session, however.

"He's way too powerful," Naruto thought to himself. "There's simply no way to best him, unless…" He smiled to himself at the idea.

Naruto quickly flipped himself back onto his feet as Mardonius landed onto the ground, his hand still holding the energetic sword. His hands quickly formed a series of hand seals before calling out.

"Oiroke no jutsu!"

The appearance of the thick wisps of vapour told Naruto that the jutsu was a success. When the mist disappeared, Mardonius found himself, instead of a young, blonde man in orange, facing a young, blonde and, most of all, naked woman.

The demon's red eyes widened before his face turned around, red as a tomato.

"Hehe," Naruto laughed as soon as he saw that he was winning. "It doesn't end there! Harem no jutsu!"

With the release of Chakra, more wisps of smoke appeared, surrounding the Nathmenid with clouds. When they dispersed, they revealed more nude women, all looking the same. This time, since they surrounded them, no matter where Mardonius looked, he would lay his eyes upon one of their nubile bodies. Therefore the demon was forced to close his eyes.

"NOW!" Naruto shouted as he released the Henge no jutsu and turned all his clones into the original form of the blonde. They all leapt towards the center at their target.

There was a sudden "bang" as Naruto and his clones were thrown backwards, their fists landing upon an invisible wall around the demon. The clones disappeared, leaving behind the real form of Naruto staggering on the ground.

Mardonius opened his eyes, and found the petite form of a winged girl with her arms raised, blue orbs of energy dancing in her hands and her red eyes looking at him with a playful glace.

"Oi, Mardonius," Atossa smiled as she lowered her hands, and the blue spheres disappeared in them. "Looks like that you almost got your ass kicked just then."

"Thanks," Mardonius said as he approached Naruto and offered a hand to help him back onto his feet.

"What the hell?" Naruto yelled out. "How the heck did you do that?"

Atossa shrugged. "That was a space-time rift," she replied.

"What?"

"Space-time rifts are basically gaps within the space-time continum," Mardonius explained, completely ignorant of the way Naruto's eyebrows were even more furrowed in puzzlement. "Atossa here is a Control Master of Space-time, so one of her abilities was to create rifts within space-time that nothing can pass through..."

"Err, Mardonius," Atossa interrupted, pointing at Naruto. "I don't think he understands."

"Huh? What's that?" Mardonius said as he looked down at Naruto, whose eyes were dreamily staring at the clouds, which seemed to be gathering in the sky in a rather alarming speed.

"Strange, it was so sunny seconds ago," commented Atossa as she looked up.

It was then there was a rustle of leaves. Leaping out of the bushes was the form of a familiar girl with purplish-white eyes. Her face was pale but her cheeks were red from running. Her breathes were in quick gasps of pant. Atossa widened her eyes in surprise.

"What is it, Hinata?" Atossa asked. "You look… like as if you've seen a ghost."

It was then Naruto noticed the frightened expression on the Hyuuga's face.

"Mar… Mardonius, Naruto-kun…" Hinata replied. "I… I saw… they…"

"Catch your breath, Hinata," said Mardonius. "What did your white eyes see?"

"They… they…" the white-eyed girl gasped as her breathing began to ease. "You… you better have a look yourself. They're only about a mile from here."

---

As they leapt through branches after branches with Hinata at the front, Mardonius could not help thinking what it was the hunter-nin had seen that shocked her to this level. Try as he may, he could not shake away the dread which now festered in his heart. If the Undead had arrived now, it would become far too risky for Naruto to stay in the hut any longer, since as powerful as Mardonius may be, he could not take on an army that had destroyed the Immortals by force. However, he could still count on the fact that the hut was rather secluded and not to be discovered easily. Therefore he maybe able to risk it and perform the _Yaduniea kunjodotaea_ before returning to Konoha…

A sudden scent his nose caught broke his revere. Hinata leapt from her branch towards the ground. Everyone else followed suit and landed. They found themselves standing near the shoulder of a cliff.

"They're over there," Hinata said, her voice dropping into a whisper.

Mardonius nodded and dropped to all fours. The others did the same as they crawled towards the bush, the Nathmenids careful to press their large wings as close to their backs as possible. All widened their eyes, and Mardonius dropped his jaw, as the cliff finally disappeared to reveal everything on the plain below.

In a short distance walking men marched like a black river upon the green grass, which turned brown and died the moment their feet landed upon them. The scent of rot and decay could still be smelt even in Mardonius' position. His eyes caught the sight of their entrails dragging on the ground, the brains oozing from their cracked skulls. He realized in horror that these were not men at all, but walking corpses dragging their rotting legs as they walked along.

What shocked him most however was not the fact that they were zombies, marching without the mind of their own; nor was it the skull-shaped banner that dotted here and there amongst the army. It was the sheer size of the army, which stretched long into the far horizon from the west. There had to be at least ten thousand zombies in that division alone and, knowing how the Nathmenid style army worked and suspected Kunbujiya not to break the tradition, Mardonius knew that there must be other divisions of similar size, which numbered the army in the tens of thousands.

The worst of his nightmares were now a reality, and it was much, much worse than he could have imagined. Mardonius knew that without the Kyubi, Kunbujiya could not raise dead infinitely, but he had no idea that with the power of the eight he was able to raise an army of this scale. With an army of this size, it would be very difficult for him to hide Naruto and the Kyubi power he had. However, there was still a very, very slim chance that the obscurity of the cottage he and the others had been living for the past three days would be enough to cover them from the eyes and ears of the King of the Dead.

That left the question of what to do about the Konoha. Against an undying army of that scale, Mardonius doubt that the Leaf, if it were more or less like the other Hidden Villages that Mardonius had been to, would have any chance at all, even if all of the shinobis were at the level of Jiraiya. His mind thought of the lives that were going to be lost, with their bodies cruelly forced into labour for King Kunbujiya and his quest for the last youma. Even if Mardonius returned to the Konoha to help, he knew that he would make little difference, and worse, that would leave Naruto vulnerable to the Undead whether the boy followed him or not.

The Nathmenid turned towards Naruto, whose blue eyes were wide with disbelief as they stared at the Undead. The blonde knew as much as the demon about Kunbujiya and his horde of Undead, as he had told him. However, Mardonius noticed those blue eyes narrowing, then widened with the energetic determination replacing the disbelief earlier. The demon thought that the sight of the army, which so shocked him, would deter Naruto's spirits. Mardonius smiled and never felt gladder that he was wrong.

From the corner of his eye Mardonius suddenly saw something moving, and instantly he wheeled around. The others turned their head, and Atossa winced in surprise as they saw Undead walking towards them from the forest.


	11. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

General Hitstapa grinned in satisfaction, his pale face pulling back his long red lips as his large, bat like wings heaved up in excitement with a rustle of the black chain mail armour that he was wearing. His bipedal, skeletal steel rattled gently beneath him as the bony toes marched upon the green grass, killing them as soon as they made contact with the black, corrupted bones. Underneath his black helmet his red eyes were glowing with an insatiable hunger as they stared at a cliff nearby. His gauntlet-clad hands tightened their grip on the harness.

His Nathmenid senses were tingling as the combined powers of the Kyubi and that of two other Nathmenids overwhelmed them. The general did not pay any heed to his kind, but the youma was important to him. If he was able to capture the Kyubi vessel now, not only the reward would be unimaginable, but also he would have outdone that upstart Kabuto.

Kabuto. Even now he could not understand why the King would put so much faith in that wraith. After all, what was he compared with Hitstapa who, much like his forebears had been loyal to the Datunya family, risking to become the next target of the other clans' despise? Five years was a very short time by demonic standards, and yet that was exactly how long Kabuto served the King. Other than the fact that Kabuto had an extensive knowledge of the human lands, and maybe slightly more powerful than a normal wraith, the general could not see anything special about this Kabuto. Was the Kyubi that important to the King? But now with Kabuto and his army bound to the Sound Country on a mission concerning a human named Orochimaru, it was his chance to show that he, Hitstapa, was more worthy than that mere wraith.

Hitstapa closed his eyes and let his mind to connect with the troops about to engage with the Kyubi vessel. Despite the fact that he had to control them through the Skeletal Raisers, this he did easily according to the King's instructions. His mind released a silent command, and he felt the soldiers beginning the assault.

---

Mardonius glared at the oncoming Undead, his eyes registering the patches of red muscles showing from underneath the black, rotting skin and the entrails that the zombies dragged on the ground. Their clothes were torn, and some of them were wearing headbands which, from his earlier travels in the Sand, he recognized to be Sand headbands.

These were used to be Sand ninjas, who were unfortunate enough to be killed by Kunbujiya's army and raised as zombies to become the Death King's slaves.

In his heart, Mardonius felt pity for them, even though he knew that would not make much of a difference. No one deserved this evil fate, not human, and not demon. Not only their lives were ruthlessly taken away, but also their bodies tampered and mutilated until they became unquestioning slaves to King of Death's bidding. The Nathmenid clutched his fists.

More and more zombies began to emerge from the trees, and Mardonius' red eyes darted here and there, his mind calculating his situation in detail. He and his companions were getting surrounded, trapped by the army that marched beyond the cliff behind them. The cliff offered no problems for him and Atossa, who could fly, and Naruto and Hinata could be carried off by them. However, his experiences told the Nathmenid that Kunbujiya would have prepared for aerial combat, and Mardonius was not so sure how well he would fare with one of his arms unusable as it wrapped around Naruto to protect him from falling to his doom. If they could reach the forest, then maybe the trees could offer more protection.

Muttering an incantation, the Nathmenid felt the familiar tingling sensation in the center of his palm, where a white orb of energy gathered. From the corners of his eyes Mardonius saw that energy also gathered in forms of the same white orbs all around him. They all stretched into the shape of swords, about one meter in length, floating in the mid-air and one of same size and shape on his palm.

He grabbed his Kataya, but his mind was not onto battle, not yet. Instead, he was focusing onto controlling the space-time around him. Like most Nathmenids, he had basic training in controlling energy, space-time and matter, though he was adept in controlling energy, just like Atossa was adept in controlling space-time. He could not control time as well as his girlfriend, but at least he could slow it down.

When the Nathmenid saw that the movements around him began to slow down, he knew that he was successful. However, his movements, and those of his summoned Kataya, were still at their normal speeds, unaffected by the slowing of time that he willed to happen.

The floating Kataya struck first, dashing towards the Undead, their energetic blades menacing as they slashed through flesh and bone. With those as cover, Mardonius charged and started to cut down the zombies one by one.

---

Naruto was still staring at the Undead, in surprise and in horror, when Mardonius made his attack with the energetic swords he summoned known as the Kataya, who were shooting themselves at the Undead like a rain of deadly missiles. It was not the sight of the rotting gore that horrified him, but it was the Sand headbands that some of those Undead wore. This reminded him that these were once human, ninjas who died in sacrifice for their village, and now forced to become monsters under the evil of Kunbujiya. They reminded him… of him and his Konoha friends.

A sudden voice broke his revere.

"What are you doing?" Mardonius shouted. "Defend yourself!"

Out from the corner of his eye, the blonde saw that Hinata positioned herself in an attacking position, ready to strike at any Undead that strayed too close. Atossa, curiously, closed her eyes and raised her hands.

If his friends were fighting to defend him, then, Naruto felt, he should not be just lying there and stare.

Naruto leapt to his feet, charged up his Chakra, and did a few hand seals to perform his primary jutsu.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The smoke released quickly dissipated to reveal several Naruto clones. The blonde and his clones were about to grab for their kunai when Naruto saw a zombie still fighting with its head and an arm severed by Mardonius' Kataya. Kunai would not do much here. Instead, Naruto turned to use another jutsu.

"Rasengan!"

Swirls of Chakra formed in his and his clones palms. By now Naruto had so much chakra control that he could use Rasengan even with his clones on every hand. Even without assess to his Kyubi chakra his own chakra, which increased during the past five years, was enough to maintain several Rasengan at once, though the jutsu would become less effective.

With little thought, the blonde and his clones charged. Under the cover from Mardonius' swords, they broke through the lines of the Undead.

---

The zombies reached the team quickly, rather too quickly for Hinata's tastes. The pungent smell of decay became stronger, and she could almost hear the _sloshy sloshy_ sound of the body fluids rattling inside those walking dead bodies. It did not made much difference to her before and after she activate her Byakugan, for the insides of these Undead were almost on the outside. Hinata gagged at the sight of the leaking entrails and the exposed brains, but that did not change what she had to do.

The hunter-nin knew very well what these zombies were after. There was no way in this world that would take her Naruto-kun away from her, not while she could help it. It was not just about protecting her love from this unspeakable evil that took the form of the walking dead that were now marching towards them. Hinata knew that she had been so timid, so shy in the past that she almost lost the blonde. She could not allow her weaknesses to become a barrier that stood behind her and Naruto anymore. In order to make herself worthy for her love, she must prove herself strong. What other method could be better than to help in protecting him now, when he was in the greatest peril?

Hinata activated her Byakugan- by now she was so adept in it that she did not require a hand seal- and raised her arm, poised in a defensive position. The Undead, snarling their sharp teeth and waving their claws, approached even closer as Hinata began to strike.

She lunged at the nearest zombie, her palm landing on the chest with a squish. Hinata forced her chakra through her Tenketsu into the Undead at the moment of contact. She spun around, dodging a slash from a nearby Undead, her other palm hitting another zombie, landing right on the neck, and like before she forced her Chakra out through the palm into the walking corpse.

Something suddenly crossed her mind. Hinata quickly broke off contact and wheeled around, stopping at the edge of the cliff. Her white eyes glanced at the zombies she attacked a moment before. Just as she had expected, they were unharmed, and continued their slow march towards her. Her Hakkeshou style was designed to attack the inner coils systems of the opponent, damaging the internal organs in the process. However, the Undead were little more than animated dead corpses. Such an attack would be useless as their internal organs were dead anyway.

The traditional Hyuuga style would not work against these creatures, Hinata smirked. She would have to use another, more unorthodox method.

She had been practicing it for a while now. She did not know if it would work, but she had to try.

Hinata charged up her palm with Chakra until it felt as if it were about to explode. With all her might, she pressed it onto an oncoming zombie, forcing out every single drop of energy gathered in her palm. The energy overflowed the dead inner coil systems, and the creature exploded into pulps of flesh and bone. The hunter nin smiled.

That worked better than she expected. "Not bad for a first," she mused.

Her smile faded as soon as she saw more Undead coming after her. Hinata let out a small sigh as she poised for another attack.

---

From the noise that she was hearing, Atossa could tell that her friends and lover were fighting very hard for their lives. Pushed at the back of her mind was her desire to cease her spell-casting and join. However, she knew very well that if she managed to throw out her time-stop spell, it would even the odds a lot against an army of at least fifty or sixty thousand strong. Thus impatient as she was, she continued to have her eyes closed and focused on concentrating mana, or Chakra, as the humans called them, onto her hands.

Slowly, the familiar, tingling sensation began to gather on her palms. The amount of energy used must not be too little, which would fail the spell, or too large, which may have explosive consequences. The amount had to be just right…

There. By the tingling feeling on her palm, the Nathmenid knew that she had gathered enough energy to progress onto the second stage of spell-casting. Her mind focused as she mentally manipulated the energies on her palm, trying to make them do what she wanted them to do. It was not the first time that she did it. Therefore it did not take very long when the noise of battle around her suddenly died down, which told her that her spell had succeeded.

Atossa opened her eyes. Everything around her, outside of her time-frame, was paused, stopped due to the effects of the time stop spell. Mardonius' swords hung in the mid-air while their demonic owner had place the one in his hand over his shoulder, ready to cut down the zombie in front. One of the clones of Naruto was frozen in mid-air in the middle of a jump. Hinata was at the point of making another strike at a nearby Undead when the spell began its effect. Atossa smiled at the zombies that were frozen in their place. Now she could do anything she wanted without any fear, if she was quick enough.

Knowing that her spell could only last five minutes in her time-frame, Atossa hurriedly summoned her own Kataya and rushed to slash it at the Undead. The purple, energetic blade seemed to pass through the rotting bodies without doing anything, but the Nathmenid knew that any effects done would have to occur only after the duration of the spell was spent. She would know whether she missed, which was very unlikely, or not when the time returned to normal once again.

She continued hacking and cutting her way through the mass of the zombies, all of them staying in their same positions as when the spell was cast. Atossa was careful not to approach her friends, however, since she knew that she may make a mistake and cut them without knowing it. After all, she was not as good with a blade and in the arts of combat as Mardonius.

The Nathmenid soon returned to the cliff, knowing very well that her spell was about to expire. She knew better than to become stuck in the middle of the zombies when that happened.

The spell expired as everything started moving again. Atossa grinned to herself as all the Undead she attacked split into halves.


	12. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

General Hitstapa bit his teeth, his eyes widened in surprise as one by one, his soldiers fell victim to the Nathmenid Kataya, the vessel's swirling mana and the girl's palms. From the eyes of his zombies, the Nathmenid general could see that his line of Undead could not keep their opponents cornered in that cliff.

The Undead were supposed to be unkillable, and should be able to attack even when in pieces. However, none of the rotting limbs that were on the ground were moving. This did not happen when he was attacking the Sand. Could this mean that King Kunbujiya was at his limits?

If that was the case, he would need to finish it quickly.

The humans were of less concern, for the general knew very well that their endurance would reach their limits very soon. His demonic oppositions, however, were far more skilful, particularly in the arts of energy and space-time control, than he had anticipated. He had a suspicion that they were Control Masters of energy and space-time, which would prove to be difficult to deal with. At this rate, it would take a considerable while to even reach the youma vessel.

However, he himself was a Control Master.

Hitstapa grinned to himself as a plan unfolded in his mind. The Nathmenid closed his eyes and concentrated, his mind turning its focus from his Undead to the humans they were fighting. Deep inside his thoughts, he pictured his mind creating a force that would lift the blonde one into the air…

---

Hyuuga Hinata was beginning to feel the strain as she blasted another zombie apart. Her clothes were soaked throughout with her sweat, and her hair matted to her head and neck. Her palm was red and stinging as she charged it up with chakra one more time and hit another Undead to push Chakra into the dead body. Her legs were starting to become wobbly as she started to feel the effects of exhaustion.

However, the Undead were still as relentless as ever. Even as the hunter nin fell one, hundreds more took its place, their teeth snarling and claws slashing. Hinata already took a couple of cuts from those foul creatures, the wounds stung as she moved. If this carried on, she doubted that she would last very much longer.

Hinata looked around. Naruto looked just as exhausted as she was. His messy blonde hair was matted to his head with sweat, as if he came out right after a shower. His clones had long disappeared, and he was drifting further and further back behind the others as they fought to protect him from the Undead. Even so, he was still slashing with his kunai, the sharp blade cutting through the rotten flesh and bone in its path.

However, Atossa and Mardonius did not look as if exhaustion had caught up with them. In fact, they were still as vicious ever, their Kataya blades cutting and, in the case of Atossa, hacking through the wave after wave of zombies. Mardonius' swords that were flying in the air were still bombarding the Undead in a deadly rain of energy beams. Occasionally some of these long beams of energy would explode upon impact, taking with them the snarling corpses in large, orange balls of fire.

Still, the Undead army still massed relentlessly before them, preventing them from reaching the safety of the trees.

It was about then the zombies stopped and scattered, as if they had lost the unifying will that forced them to attack. Hinata looked at Naruto with puzzlement, but all she got in return was another puzzled look from the blonde. She wanted to charge once again, but she found that her body refused to move any longer. Her knees buckled and the hunter-nin collapsed onto the ground.

"Whoa!"

Hinata turned around. Naruto was floating in mid-air, kicking and screaming as he struggled. Yet she could not see the force that was holding him, lifting him off the ground. The Hyuuga tried to get up, but as soon as she rose up, she felt tightness around her throat, her trachea closing as if there was an invisible hand trying to squeeze the breathe out of her. Hinata clutched her throat, struggling helplessly to try to relief herself of this choking force upon her. She could feel her conscious slipping as her body convulsed for air…

---

It was hard to believe that this is all that is of the Village of Sound, Kabuto mused as he stared at the strange yet familiar sight of the large mansion that housed the entire Ninja Village. From the branch he was standing on, the building was a little more than a silhouette against the darkness of the night. Beside him were the others of the Five, all staring at the Sound headquarters with their red eyes filled with eagerness. Right below them, marching in the shadows of the canopy under the moonlight were the Undead, their teeth snarling and claws twitching as they limped on their rotting legs towards the building.

On the surface, the Orochimaru mansion was little more than a large house. Even after three years, Kabuto could still remember what it would look like. With its white, plastered walls and green tiled roofs, it gave out an aura of tranquillity. Only the two snake coils on the walls beside the highest window marked the building as the residence of Orochimaru. However, Kabuto knew that was only a deception: underneath all that was an underground labyrinth of corridors and rooms, all designed to confuse invaders and lead them into traps and hidden passages where the Sound ninjas could hide in for ambushes.

However, Kabuto was not any normal invader. Even after parting it for two years, the Wraith could still remember every corridor, every room hidden underneath the dark dirt. If there was anyone more suited to attacking the Sound complex, it would be Kabuto.

On top of that, they had the advantage of surprise. Even the Snake Sannin could never have anticipated an attack from the Undead in the dark. With luck Orochimaru would not even know that such an army of zombies even existed.

The Wraith twisted his face with an evil grin as he motioned the others to follow. They leapt and landed onto the hard ground and headed towards the main doorway.

---

_Orochimaru bit his teeth, his long, blonde hair waving behind him as he wheeled to slam his fist upon a table nearby. The shattering splinters of wood flying gave little relief, but it was not enough to quench his anger towards the betrayal._

_In his heart, the Snake Sannin knew that it would only be time that Kabuto would betray him. After all, he was not truly human. Orochimaru knew that better than any other. In fact, only he knew Kabuto's secret of being a wraith. That was the reason he had kept him: the Immortality Jutsu was based on a Wraith's skill in body-switching, and to perfect it Orochimaru would need the knowledge of a Wraith. Kabuto, combined with his medical knowledge, was the perfect demon in that regard._

_However, Orochimaru also knew that Kabuto was treacherous at heart, and would rebel against him should he be given the chance. Even though the Sannin was more powerful than the wraith, he knew that there were always chances for the demon to betray him. Therefore even when Orochimaru often taunted Kabuto about betraying him, in reality he never allowed himself to be off guard._

_That was until now, that was._

_Orochimaru bit his bottom lip as he raised his fists in frustration. He had spent so much time, so much effort in doing this. He could not believe that Kabuto would betray him by doing this, by taking him away…_

_"Orochimaru-sama?" a voice nearby broke his reverie._

_"Yes, what is it?" Orochimaru turned and saw a Sound nin kneeling nearby._

_"We… we found Kabuto but…" the shinobi hesitated. "He… he was heading to the west but… We… we…"_

_"You let him get away?" the Sannin shouted, his snake-like eyes blazing with fire._

_"He's far too powerful!" the Sound nin protested. "Even carrying Sasuke he still managed to kill my team!"_

_"Then why are you here?" _

_With a loud boom, the dead body of the Sound nin was flung with a splatter of blood to the wall._

_Feeling a bit calmer, Orochimaru turned around and reassessed his situation. If Kabuto was heading west, most likely he was going to THAT place, and there was little chance of him find him there…_

_Orochimaru clutched his fists and slammed them onto a chair. _

---

"Orochimaru-sama!"

In the darkness, the voice echoed in between the walls of Orochimaru's room with fear and timidity. However, the Snake-Sannin twisted on his bed, reluctant to heed to the calls.

"Orochimaru-sama! This is an emergency!"

Orochimaru's purple eyes slowly opened, burning with a mixture of fatigue and rage as he began to sit up on his bed. He turned to the Sound nin that had been calling him at the doorway.

"What is it?" his deep voice asked with a tone of annoyance.

"Orochimaru-sama," the shinobi stammered, fear clearly glimmering in his eyes. Orochimaru snorted, his hand twitching to kill him, which he certainly would had it not been that he want to hear what the ninja wanted to say. "We… we're being invaded!"

"What?" Orochimaru frowned. It was around then his ears picked up something else: the sound of combat in the distance, most probably from the corridors above his head. His anger subsided and replaced by shock, though that the Sannin knew better than to let that show on his face. His eyes narrowed as he glared at the shinobi.

"Why wasn't I notified earlier? What happened with the guards?" Orochimaru barked as he got off the bed and stood up on the ground. He quickly rushed towards the door.

"There're too many of them, Orochimaru-sama!" the shinobi whimpered, as he rushed to catch up with the Sannin. "We're way out-numbered!"

"Then wake up the rest of the ninja, fool! And sound the alarm!" Orochimaru ordered as he walked through the door into a corridor. "Whoever they are, they must not take the fortress of the Sound!"

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama!" the shinobi replied, bowed, and disappeared into the darkness.

As Orochimaru watched him go, he turned around and walked down the corridor in the opposite direction, where he knew that he would reach the stairs to the upper floors.

---

Due to the restricting space of the corridors and rooms, the numerical superiority did not give the Undead much advantage, Kabuto mused to himself as he poked his chakra-filled finger at a Sound shinobi nearby, the precise chakra-cut killing the ninja instantly. The wraith grabbed the dead corpse and flung it onto the corner of the room, where a pile of ninja carcasses was building up.

The smell of rot and decay filled in the entire room, where the Undead engaged with the Sound ninjas. The cries of the dying echoed in the between the walls, splattered with blood under the dim torch light of what Kabuto remembered as the underground battle arena. Even though this room was larger than most of the others, it still limited the amount of space the Undead could manoeuvre in the battle. Therefore instead of the Undead surrounding the Sound ninjas, the two sides clashed in the center of the room in more or less a straight line. However, despite this the zombies still held a greater advantage. It took only a slash of a claw or a bit in the right places for a zombie to kill, while it took more than a few dozen shuriken cuts to severe an animated dead body, though now the pieces would only twitch on the ground rather than keep on killing. That did not matter much, for the Raising Spells, one of which had just been cast upon the pile of dead bodies at the corner, helped to replenish the numbers of the Undead.

A sudden loud bang broke Kabuto's reverie. He saw with the corner of his eye the bodies, both living and the dead, being flung out of a nearby doorway leading to a corridor. Standing there, dressed in his white robes with a purple ribbon, was Orochimaru himself.


	13. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It was an odd sight to see the zombies suddenly stopping their assaults, Mardonius mused to himself as the Undead in front of him turned away, allowing the demon to slice off its arms and legs and cut across its midsection before kicking the pieces away with his Kataya sword in his hand. Mardonius knew that he should be glad that the zombies were giving them a chance to reach the forest, but somewhere in his heart he knew that something was amiss. He held up his hand, and obediently the Kataya flying in the air at once ceased their attacks and lifted themselves higher in the air. Mardonius furrowed his brows before he heard a scream from behind.

He quickly wheeled around, the first time he had the chance to do so since the battle began. His red eyes saw a young woman kneeling on the ground with her hands on her throat, her face underneath her black tresses turning blue as if she was strangling herself. Worse, behind her was a young blonde who was lifted into the air by some invisible force and was beginning to drift towards the Undead army in the distance. The demon instantly knew what was going on.

"_Bakada!_ (Damn it!)" Mardonius shouted in his native tongue. "_Bunica tastarca tostarkaskunkaca! Atossa!_ (We have a Matter Master here! Atossa!)"

From the corner of his eye, Mardonius saw Atossa nodded as she acknowledged. Her hands rose up at the direction of Hinata, and closed her eyes as she concentrated.

Hinata dropped on all fours as she panted for breath. She reached for her throat with one hand as the force holding it disappeared, coughing vigourously. Mardonius caught the sight of Atossa rushing towards the long-haired nin just before his wings gave a strong flap and he took off from the ground.

The Nathmenid focused his mind in slowing down time. Naruto's descend instantly slowed down, limited by his reference of time which Mardonius slowed. Mardonius quickly turned his attention on moving Naruto's body. Just like other Control Masters, Mardonius had basic training in controlling all of the Three, although he specialized in controlling energy. By creating a counter-force with his mind on Naruto, Mardonius countered the force generated by the Matter Master who was trying to bring the blonde to the Undead army.

Keeping part of his attention on Naruto, Mardonius felt the direction of the mental force that was holding Naruto in mid-air with his mind. The Nathmenid was slightly surprised to sense that the mental control came from the central part of the Undead army far away beneath the cliff. Not that he did not expect strong opponents from the side of Kunbujiya, but he never thought that they would be Control Masters. He did not let that timid him, however. Once he got the approximate direction correct, the Nathmenid mentally commanded his horde of Kataya to strike. Mardonius doubted that he would be able to kill the Matter Master, but he knew that once the focus of the Master had been disrupted, Naruto would be freed.

In the distance, Mardonius could see his swords raining the center of the massive blob that was Kunbujiya's attacking force, cutting and stabbing through everything that was on their way. Just as the Nathmenid had expected, the force holding Naruto disappeared instantly. With a quick focus of mind, Mardonius willed Naruto towards him before catching the blonde with his arms.

"Quick!" the Nathmenid heard Atossa screaming from behind. "Into the forest while he recovers!"

With Naruto in his arms, Mardonius turned around to give a quick nod. With a quick flap of his wings, the demon darted towards the green sea of the forest.

---

Hitstapa stared at the last of the kataya as it vanished into thin air, his sweat from batting away the flying energy swords with his own flooding the inside of his black armour as he stood amongst the pools of black blood and chunks of rotting flesh and bone that were the remnants of the Undead that had been around him.

The attack came as a surprise for him. The Nathmenid never expected that his opposing demon would be powerful enough to send his swords to over that distance, or even dared to attack the main army like that, as it would lose his focus on the zombies, leaving him vulnerable. Hitstapa's steed was killed, cut up into pieces by several kataya after the general leapt away to dodge another. Most of the Undead around him were gone as well, destroyed by the hail of cutting missiles that bit through their rotting flesh and bone.

The Nathmenid general winced, a terrible thought striking his mind. He instantly closed his eyes, his mind wandered along until it reached the Undead that he sent to the cliff top. It took him a while before the multiple view of the cliff-top, seen by the rotting eyes of the zombies, became clear in his mind as his will regained control of the Undead.

There was no sign of the Nathmenids. More importantly, he could not see the Ghost Demon vessel as well.

Hitstapa let out a loud shout of frustration as he clutched his fists, his mind clouded with an outrage against himself as it willed the Undead to return to the forest to search for them. Had he not been impatient and allowed the zombies to continuously attack, the general was sure that even his demonic opponents could not hold out forever. Just like always, his impatience had costed him dearly…

---

The corners of Kabuto's lips, blood-red in colour, pulled up in an evil smile as the wraith lay his eyes on his former superior. His hands clutched into fists in excitement as he thought of the inevitable fight that was going to happen. His mind raced towards the others of the Five who were fighting in other sections of the Sound compound, calling them to him to fight against the Sound leader. The Sound ninjas were gathering behind the Snake Sannin, hoping that they would have better protection against the Undead from their leader.

He never looked upon Orochimaru as his superior, not even when helping him during the time when Orochimaru did not have the use of his arms. After all, no matter how power he was, he was still a mere _human_, a mere _mortal_. Kabuto was a wraith, a _demon_. On top of that was that fact that wraiths were spiritual demons, who rely on possessing a body only for physical activities. Kabuto could survive until eternity with or without a body until sealed by one of those accursed demon-hunters, though he would be powerless without one.

By contrast, not even the mighty Nathmenids could overcome their mortality, which gave the wraiths an upper edge indeed. For a demon that was even far superior to even the Nathmenids, serving a mere human was a huge humiliation.

Of course, Kabuto did not allow Orochimaru to know that until it was far too late. He faked loyalty, even to the point that he would offer his body when Orochimaru's arm problem was becoming more and more severe. He saved Orochimaru in many and many situations. After all, the Snake Sannin was once part of _that_ organization, and that organization was the reason why the wraith was sent to the human lands.

"Miss me, Orochimaru-_sama_?" he asked, amused by the sight of the burning fury that was growing on the Snake Sannin's face.

"Kabuto…" Orochimaru growled. "I cannot believe that you will dare to show your face again here."

Kabuto smirked. "Well… I must admit that I'm a bit _frightened_ to see you again," the wraith said with a mock shiver. "But then the desire to kill you overcome everything else."

Orochimaru grunted and bit his teeth as Kabuto charged up his hands with chakra. The wraith knew that it would be a tight match without the other of the Five to aid him, but he could not wait for them to come. The normal Undead soldiers, of course, would be only more a hassle than help, that was if they could manage not becoming rotting minced meat from Orochimaru.

"Let's get started on what has to happen, Orochimaru," Kabuto snarled, his eyes red with bloodlust and eagerness as he positioned his energy-filled palms in front of his face. The other Sound ninjas behind Orochimaru backed even further, giving their leader and the leader a respectable space for a fight.

The Snake Sannin opened his mouth, and the head of a serpent came out. The reptilian jaws opened to reveal the hilt of a sword, which Orochimaru grabbed by his hand before the snake disappeared back into his lips. This was the Kusanagi sword.

Kabuto focused his Chakra onto the ground, breaking through the rocks with the energy charged on the soles of his feet. A normal human could not have done this with their hands charged up with Chakra as well. Only a demon would have an enough Chakra arsenal as well as the control required for such a manoeuvre. The Wraith knew that since they were all underground, this strategy would give him an advantage as he could pop out from anywhere, even the walls and the ceilings.

With his sensations tingling of Orochimaru's position, Kabuto dug his way through the rocks. He burst through into open air where he had the strongest sense of Chakra, his palms, filled with energy, lunged at the Snake Sannin to cut the muscles with the Chakra Scalpels.

Kabuto's palms hit the air.

The wraith turned his head, just in time to see Orochimaru spinning around, dodging his attack while the glittering blade of the Kusanagi sword flashed towards Kabuto's midsection. Surprised, Kabuto made the mistake of parrying away the threat with his palm, giving the Snake Sannin an opening. Not wasting the chance, Orochimaru landed his palm onto the demon's ribs, sending the winged medic nin away a couple meters.

Kabuto clutched the aching part where he was hit as he flipped over to his feet, feeling a salty liquid gathering in his mouth. "Shimatta, he knows too much about my style," the wraith thought to himself as he coughed up blood.

Before the demon could react, however, Orochimaru gave a smirk and opened his mouth. A long, stretchy tongue shot out and wrapped itself around Kabuto's right foot.

"Arrrrgh!" the Wraith yelled out as Orochimaru tossed him to the other side of the arena. Kabuto could hear the sound of bones breaking as he landed.

Orochimaru grinned. "You are a fool to challenge me, Kabuto," he sneered. "You think that you'll defeat me with your pitiful skills?"

His tongue darted towards Kabuto's neck. This time, however, Kabuto batted it away with his palm. Blood squirted out as the Chakra Scalpel, which was surprisingly still activated, bit into the delicate flesh. Orochimaru winced with pain as he quickly pulled back his weapon. Kabuto took the chance as he darted towards the Snake Sannin, his Chakra Scalpels flashing dangerously as he landed both of his palms towards Orochimaru's chest.

Orochimaru wheeled around with his swords pointing up, the blade threatening to cut both of Kabuto's hand off. Just before it did, the wraith pulled back in time. The Sannin aimed for the midsection, but the demon leaned back and dodged the blow, somersaulting three times before landing onto his feet.

The Sannin formed a series of hand-seals, his hands and fingers moving so fast that they were a blur even to Kabuto's eyes. Orochimaru ended the seals with his hands pressing onto the ground.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Kabuto widened his eyes in surprise. When he challenged his former master he counted on the fact that Orochimaru would not wish to damage his complex with the giant snake of his.

A buff of smoke appeared from underneath Orochimaru's palms. Two man-sized snakes appeared as the Sannin was lifted up, standing with his feet on the snakes' heads.

A rustle and rattling of bones came from behind Kabuto. The wraith turned around, and smiled as the other of the Five arrived.

"Hehehe," Kabuto smiled. This would become very, very interesting...


	14. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The scent of sweat filled her nostrils as Atossa darted through the forest, whizzing around the branches and leaves with Hinata in under her arm. The she-demon could only feel sorry for the hunter-nin, but there was nothing Atossa could do to stop her body from sweating. In front of her was the gigantic form of Mardonius, manoeuvring around the obstacles like some sort of gigantic bat with a blonde man in his arms, and leaving behind an odour of sweat. The she-demon could see that Naruto's head often turned to check around, to see if there were any danger nearby.

Now that they were already inside the forest for a couple of days, Atossa knew that they were already at the safe distance from the Undead Army and their Control Master leader. However, with the Nine Tail vessel with them, Atossa knew better than to slow down and let her guard down. With their whereabouts known to the Undead, the Nathmenid knew very well that this forest could no longer serve as their hiding place. The Matter Master would track them throughout the forest. With an army most probably over fifty thousand, that probably would not be a hard thing to do.

There was only one place relatively safe for them now. That was behind the walls of Konoha.

Konoha. It was one place that she only had heard from and yet never saw with her eyes. Mardonius mentioned it a couple of times during their journey in the human lands, and she heard about it time and time again from the humans they met. It was supposed to be the strongest and the greatest of all the Hidden Villages. However, now that the she-demon had seen the size of the invading army, she wondered if it would be strong enough to defend herself. From her experience, Atossa knew that there were several countries surrounding the Fire country, and they must have been obliterated before the Undead reached here.

Beside that, from the tale Jiraiya told them, the Leaf did not have a happy experience with demons. Atossa began to wonder how the villagers would receive her and Mardonius. She knew that Naruto was not very popular with the people either. What would they do if the villagers drove them away?

Out of a sudden, the sight of Mardonius stopping on a nearby branch broke her reverie completely. Puzzled, the Nathmenid followed suit, landing beside the demonic giant. Her query was answered when she looked at the group of people at the foot of the trees straight ahead.

Most of them were sitting on the yellow, sandy part of the ground, which contrasted greatly with the brown soil nearby. Atossa could see that some of them were dressed in ninja uniforms with Sand headbands, suggesting that these people were from the Sand. Most of them, however, were dressed in normal civilian clothing. From the state of their clothes, Atossa judged them to be at least in the wilderness for a week. One of them, the one with red hair, had a gourd tied up to his back, while nearby there lay another in an odd black suit that covered most of his body with two ear-like shapes on top of his head. A girl nearby was standing up, her arm resting on a gigantic folded fan and her green eyes looking around, scanning for danger. From the fact that there had not been traps protecting the group suggested to Atossa that they had only arrived recently, no less than a couple of hours.

"Gaara?" Naruto muttered and gestured to the man with the gourd when Mardonius turned to face him with puzzlement.

The Nathmenids' sensitive ears caught the noise of rustling leaves, and they saw another girl leaping out of the bush near Gaara. Her long, black ponytail swung around as she greeted the man. Atossa lit up with recognition as she saw the young, child-like face and the long grey robes.

"Kuri?" she muttered as she leapt from the branch.

---

Gaara looked around, his green eyes scanning the trees around him.

They had all been travelling for eight days straight, he, Kuri and the fortunate villagers and Shinobi to be saved from the Sand's destruction. Even though the villagers were all just sitting on Gaara's sand, occasionally they would have to get off and rest, something which the former Sand shinobi did not quite approve. After all, they were being chased by an army of dead corpses, who would satisfy at nothing but their ultimate destruction. Gaara himself did not quite understand why normal people had to rest. But then, he was used to travelling on a levitating sand ball, with his legs crossed and will focused onto controlling the ball of sand beneath him.

For now, he must be more cautious while everyone else was mostly resting. Out of this little group here Gaara and Kuri were the most powerful, and hence they had the most responsibility of protecting these Sand Villagers. As his green eyes scanned at the tired and resting villagers, Gaara could not help but wonder at the irony of events. These villagers were now protected by the monsters that they had resented.

Years ago, after his return to the Sand from the Leaf, Gaara could not help but thought more and more about the issue of love and strength. After his ordeal with Naruto, the Sand ninja found himself starting to become more and more caring about people, just as he used to do when he was young. For Temari and Kankuro, it was a welcoming change. On the surface, the villagers all welcomed the new Gaara. However, deep inside they still viewed him as a monster, and the shinobi knew it.

Frustrated by their attitude, Gaara finally lost his control and almost killed a villager. As the child of the previous Kazekage, and the village's trump card, he did not get into trouble. However, Gaara left the village that night. He knew that as long as he stayed, his hate would grow. He could never learn how to love- how to be human. The only place that he could think to go to was the hut of Kazeoni Kuri, the only girl unrelated to Gaara that Gaara knew would accepted him.

Despite the fact that he had left it for two year by then, Gaara still had no trouble in locating the small hut in the middle of the sea of sand. It was just as he had remembered, the same lonely hut that situated in the middle of nowhere. He was welcomed with opening arms by Kuri, who gave him a big bear hug as soon as she saw him. When Gaara thought that he would be accepted by Kuri, he had underestimated. The child of the Wind Demons was thrilled to have him living with her once again.

They lived together for the next three years. As a hermit living out in the desert, Kuri taught Gaara basic desert-surviving skills. Her hut was situated near a well of water, but they still had to require food. With their powers over the sand and wind, Gaara and Kuri managed to scrape off the land. It was tougher than in the Sand, but it was the happiest time that Gaara had ever had. As they were both exiles from the homeland for the same reasons, the two understood each other perfectly, and Gaara eventually trusted her perfectly. Sometimes when the old memories from the past returned to haunt him, she would listen until Gaara had poured out his soul to her, something that Gaara never did, not even towards his own siblings. The former Sand shinobi could feel the pain easing as Kuri shared his burden.

He did not know when it happened, but later on Gaara realized that he and Kuri were inseparable, as if there was a strong, invisible rope tying their minds and hearts together. He would feel happy when Kuri was happy; feel sad when Kuri was sad. It took a while before Gaara learnt that was known as love, though not very long after before they confessed their feelings for each other and became lovers.

Eventually, however, Temari and Kankuro reached Gaara in Kuri's hut, asking for the return of the Sand Master. Gaara refused, saying that he could not stand the hatred from the villagers towards him. Besides, he could not abandon Kuri, who was under exile due to the Wind Demon seal that was passed on to her by her ancestors. Realizing that Gaara and Kuri were in love, his siblings did not press on with the subject, since Kuri's hut was still well within the Wind territory and, technically speaking, that meant that Gaara was not considered to be a missing nin.

Hence Gaara stayed with Kuri in exile, until all hell broke loose.

First, it began with those green lights that kept on shining from the western horizon. Gaara could see that the sight of them distressed Kuri, though whenever he asked her about it she would not reply. It was about then Kuri began to act strangely. She would sometimes lock herself up in her room and closed all windows and curtains so that Gaara could not use his third eye to see what was going on.

This kept on for a couple of days before Kuri suddenly told Gaara that they had to go to the Sand. Gaara was surprised and puzzled. He himself did not really want to go back and face those villagers again. What was more was the fact that Kuri, like her ancestors, was banned from entering the Sand Village. However, Kuri insisted. Puzzled, confused and yet unable to convince her otherwise, Gaara sighed and followed suit, with the heart that was expecting an entrance towards doom.

It was not the "doom" that Gaara expected.

As things turned out, Kuri and Gaara ended up in a burning village that was under the onslaught of an army of walking dead. Seeing that the people were in danger, Kuri almost lunged into save them, and Gaara had to pull her out so that she did not get herself into danger. The sand master was rather reluctant to save those people who hated him so much, but Kuri insisted on rescuing them, and Gaara could not persuade her otherwise. However, he could not let her to jump in and confront an army that was literally flooding the entire village with numbers, which was something Gaara, knowing her, knew that she would do.

Hence he assisted her with his Flying Sand Balls. By flying over the Undead, Kuri could attack with her wind powers while Gaara snatched up anyone with his sand. Eventually they saved who they could and retreated from the burning village.

A sudden yell shocked Gaara back into the present.

"Demons! Demons!"

They couldn't have caught up already, could they?

Cursing himself for losing focus, the Sand Master quickly turned around. Nearby Temari was already on her feet, her fan ready to strike. Encircled by the villagers were two bat-winged demons and two people, one blonde and one with long dark hair. The blonde looked almost like…

"Naruto?" Gaara almost called out.

Already, however, Kuri had rushed out to meet the demon that looked like a girl. Before Gaara could say anything more, she already had traded some intangible words and thrown her arms around the demon's neck.

The Sand Master widened his eyes, stunned.

"Gaara, it is safe!" Kuri shouted. "They're on our side!"

"It's true, Gaara!" Naruto called out.

The villagers all looked around, muttering to each other in surprise as two of their kind announced the same news. Gaara just stood there, his mouth slightly opened.

---

The only sound that she could hear was the rustling of the leaves as Yuuki Kurenai walked on top of the walls with her two ninjas, patrolling around the area on a night guard duty. The bandages that bundled around her body to form a skirt stretched and relaxed as she moved, her red eyes scanning the scenes of greenery under the light of the setting sun. Most likely it would be another uneventful evening.

For a Jounin of her experience, one may think such trivial mission would be humiliating. However, Kurenai knew that every single task had its own purpose. Besides, the Hokage wanted the defense of the village to be tightened. Though the Shinobi did not know why, Kurenai trusted Tsunade enough to follow her orders.

However, as the rustling grew louder and louder, Kurenai realized that there was no wind to blow the trees to begin with. Her two ninja team-mates realized that too, as they all reached for their Shuriken hoisters. The jounin's red eyes narrowed as a large, yellow object burst out of the leaves nearby. Her two Chunnin companions dropped to the floor with a yell of surprise. Even Kurenai took a few steps back.

It was a large ball of sand floating in the air. Judging from its shadow there were people riding on that thing, but Kurenai could not see them from her angle.

A head appeared however. It was a blonde with whisker marks on his face. Kurenai widened her eyes as she recognized him to be Naruto.

Before the Jounin could get over her surprise, however, several more heads appeared. Two of them had glowing red eyes with horns on their foreheads. The red-haired one had the kanji "love". Kurenai opened her mouth and then smiled when she noticed the girl with long, dark hair.

"Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata muttered as she hopped down from the sand ball.


	15. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The yellow tresses of Tsunade flew behind her as she tore down the corridor. Rushing beside her was the petite form of Shizune, her black hair flowing behind her as well as she tried to keep up. However, the Hokage could hardly notice the way that her assistant was struggling to keep up with her pace, nor the fact that several Sand shinobis were being carried in stretchers past her in a Leaf hospital. Her mind was focused upon reaching her destination- which apparently was the visitor room at the end of the corridor.

If anyone had told her that she would not be happy to see Naruto again a week ago, Tsunade would be very much offended. It would be total insult to her character, if anyone would think that she did not care about the blonde. Indeed, the Hokage was happy to hear that Naruto was still very much alive and had been under Jiraiya's care for the past five years. However, for the moment Tsunade's joy was dampened by something far more chilling: the Akatsuki Empire.

To her knowledge, Tsunade was one of those few people in Konoha who had even an idea of the demonic empire that existed in the far west. It was an unheard of thing, for a Nathmenid demon to even set foot upon any of the countries, or the "Ninja Lands" in Nathmenid terms. Even as a Hokage, Tsunade could find little information about the demon-hunting demons. There was literally nothing about that demonic race to be found in the Konoha library, not even one scroll. Her knowledge only came from Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who claimed to have been there before. Hence she only had a very vague idea that they had an empire, and it was located in the west that the humans rarely tread. Given the constant tension in between the Hidden Villages, though, Tsunade doubt that it was because of the distance. Nevertheless, it had shown the obscureness of the Akatsuki Empire and her demonic people.

This was why she could hardly believe it when Jiraiya told her he thought that the Akatsuki Empire was going to attack the Leaf. After all, the Nathmenids had left the humans alone for eons past, why would they try to attack now? Jiraiya told her that there had been great changes within the empire itself, something involving an evil demon usurping the throne, and he was not even certain that there would be an attack. Still, it would not be a bad thing for her, or the village for that matter, to tighten her defense.

Then before the Sand messenger came.

He was already dying when he arrived at the gates, and Tsunade had to drop everything in order to see him. While trying to treat his grievous wounds, she heard the messenger, with his last breath, uttering, "The demons... destroyed the Sand... The Leaf... Must... Prepare..."

Tsunade was both shocked and puzzled by those words. The demons... could he have meant the Nathmenids?

Now, there were two Nathmenid demons within the village. The Hokage could not help but to begin to question her previous assumptions about the Empire of Dawn.

Tsunade pressed her palm against the two glass doors, and in her hurry she forgot about her strength- the doors swung around, banged on the wall and the glass shattered.

The bang turned quite a few heads in the room. Tsunade could recognize Hinata and Kurenai sitting on the sofa at the centre of the room with their backs towards her. Facing her on another sofa was Naruto, who looked more or less the same as she last saw him, except that he no longer had the Leaf headband on his forehead. Standing nearby leaning on a wall was a red-head with the kanji "love" on his forehead, whom Tsunade recognized to be Sabaku no Gaara. She noticed that he no longer wore the Sand headband on his sash, which confirmed the reports she got from her informants that Gaara had deserted the Sand.

However, it was the two figures sitting next to Naruto that caught her attention. It was the first time that Tsunade had ever met a Nathmenid demon. Just as Jiraiya had described, they looked very much like normal people: except for the bat-like wings, their two horns on their foreheads, and the red iris glowing in the otherwise black eyes. However, even in their monstrous eyes Tsunade could detect humanity within them. It seemed to her that they, after all, had human blood in them.

The Nathmenids stood up, their hands clutching in a fist before their chests as they bowed. For a moment Tsunade forgot that this was the traditional Nathmenid greeting. "Greetings," the he-demon said. "You must be the Hokage."

"Greetings," Tsunade nodded. "And yes, I am the Hokage. Welcome to the Leaf, er..."

"Mardonius and Atossa," the male Nathmenid introduced hastily.

"Thank you," Atossa added.

"Ah, so you're the two Nathmenids that Jiraiya was talking about," replied Tsunade.

"We bring dire news..." Mardonius began, but was Tsunade held her hand up.

"I know," she said. "The Akatsuki no Teikoku is attacking."

Mardonius furrowed his eyebrows in puzzlement. "How did you..."

"Messengers from the Sand had long arrived before you came, Atossa," replied the Hokage. She turned to Gaara. "I am sorry."

"It's ok," Gaara replied, surprising Tsunade with his matter-of-fact tone. "There was nothing the Leaf could have done. The attack came without warning. Had it not been for Kuri..."

"Kuri?"

"She was the one who knew about Nathmenid Empire... well, sort of," replied Gaara as he explained everything that happened.

"I... see," Tsunade replied. "So where is she now?"

"At the hospital, I think," replied the former Sand shinobi.

Tsunade nodded as she looked at the two Nathmenids. "Jiraiya told me that you two have looked after Naruto for the past few days," she said. "Thank you."

"No problem," Atossa replied and smiled. "Had it not been for the army we would not have come."

"Army...?"

"The Dawn Army," Mardonius repeated. "We've met them in the forest," he gestured to Naruto, Hinata and Atossa. "That's why we're here. They're after the Nine Tails."

Tsunade nodded. She looked at Naruto, and said. "Yes, Jiraiya told me about that, too. Something to do with a king wanting all the youma, right?"

Mardonius' lips tightened and nodded. "Kunbujiya is powerful enough already," Atossa said. "With Nine Tails inside him he'll be completely unstoppable," she added with a sigh. "You will help us fight him, won't you?"

For a split second, Tsunade considered the notion of handing over Naruto to the Empire to save the village. However, she discarded the thought just as quickly as it came to her, since she knew very well that there was no guarantee that this "King Kunbujiya" would retreat his forces after he got his Kyubi. On top of that, it would set a very terrible example, since if she succumbed to this, she would have to succumb to any other demands from the king in the future under similar circumstances. Besides, it would look bad on the behalf of the Leaf, and the other countries would look down on the Konoha as a village which would fall on its knees when threatened militarily.

That aside, however, to be able to destroy the Sand, the invading army must be a force to be reckoned with. After all, although the Sand was not as strong as Konoha, as one of the major powers it should not be a push over.

The Hokage bit her bottom lip. "Yes... we will," she said. "How many are there?"

Gaara thought for a moment, then replied. "I don't know. More than enough to crowd through every street in Suna?"

"The Nathmenid army is organized in units of ten, hundred, thousand, and ten thousand," added Mardonius. "The division that we came across in the forest numbered around ten thousand. This means that the entire army numbers at tens of thousands."

Tens of thousands! Everyone in the room paled at that number. Tsunade felt her head spinning when she tried to comprehend the astronomical number in her head. Her eyes could see the shock in everyone's faces around the room, particularly for Shizune, who widened her eyes and opened her mouth as if she was witnessing the end of the world. If the army attacked, the Leaf would be outnumbered by… almost one to ten. Not that would be too much of a problem for shinobi above the Jounin level, but not many were even at the rank of Chunnin.

"And they can't be killed," Gaara added. "Not even my Sabaku Taisou can kill them."

"Yes they can," Naruto chimed in. When everyone looked at him, he turned a little hesitant. "Well… not exactly since they're dead, but you can disable them by cutting their arms and legs off…"

"What... can you?" Gaara asked. "Won't the arms and legs continue moving and hop up to attack?"

"Hop up to attack?" Atossa asked. "That never happened to us back in the forest..."

She looked at Mardonius, who thought for a moment, than said, "That must mean that the distance is affecting the effectiveness of the communication between Kunbujiya and his Undead..."

"What?" everyone asked. Atossa looked at Mardonius with a sigh of exasperation.

"Plainly speaking, Kunbujiya's Undead army is less effective the further away it is from Nathpolis, the capital of the Empire," she explained. "Kunbujiya can't talk to his zombies as well when they're far away, see?"

"I... see," Tsunade replied. Then she remembered something Naruto said. "What did you mean they're dead, Naruto?"

Mardonius opened his mouth and answered, "Basically speaking, they're dead corpses reanimated via magical means. All of them are mentally controlled by the one who cast the spell, King Kunbujiya himself."

Tsunade gasped. It was not the idea of Undead that shocked her. After all, she could name a few kinjutsu that could raise the dead from the grave. It was the scale of such an outrageously evil deed that had been done. To her knowledge, it took a huge amount of chakra to raise even one dead corpse. To have summoned hundreds of thousands of Undead was a feat that was beyond her power, or the power of anyone she knew of, even all the powers of the previous Hokages before her combined. How on Earth could they tackle this god-like menace? It seemed to her, once again, that the wisest choice was to give up Naruto…

No! That would never be done. She was the Hokage. She must look at the bigger picture. Again, her thoughts turned to the fact that there was no guarantee that the Undead would retreat once they had the Kyubi. In fact, most likely they would continue this unholy crusade against the humans now that they had destroyed one country.

"Anyway," the blonde in question interrupted her thoughts. "We have Mardonius and Atossa. I've seen they fight. They're a hell of fighters, if you ask me."

The demon nodded. "Well… I don't think that we can exert that amount of power in any time soon." He turned to Naruto who had shock in his face. "I won't lie to you, Naruto, but such power is a terrible strain upon our bodies, we cannot use our full power in between certain periods of time. I know that I will need a couple months' rest before I can summon the amount of _kataya_ I did back in the forest, and I am certain that Atossa would need a period of rest as well."

Atossa cleared her throat. "What he's trying to say," she began as she gave Mardonius a dirty look, and received a look of puzzlement in return, "is that although we cannot use our full power, we will try our best to help. We are, after all, Control Masters, the Elite of the Elite Nathmenids."

"But what can two of you do against an army of that scale?" Shizune pipped up, the despair evident in her voice. "Never has any country in history has ever faced such a force. This is suicidal. There's no way we can survive this."

Tsunade let bit her bottom lip as her mind strained to think up of something. She looked around, and saw the defeated looks on their faces, save for the two Nathmenids, who looked completely helpless as despair enveloped everyone around the room. Hinata was still pale, her eyes widened and shaking in fear. Gaara was shifting his eyes around in the room, hoping that someone would come up with something to help with the situation. Shizune had her face buried in her hands, making silent sobs. Even Naruto had his eyes shut, his head hung low.

Out of a sudden, the blonde opened up his eyes and yelled.

"Rats! I'm sick of this!" Naruto shouted. "I'm not going to give up! I still have to become the Hokage and I'll NOT let the Leaf fall! Who's going to protect the Leaf if we give up? I will not allow any innocent blood to be shed on by behalf!"

That proclamation stunned the Hokage. Even after five years of departure, Naruto still cared about the Leaf. Everyone in the room stared at the blonde, their shock and shame slowly appearing in their faces. He was right: if they were to give up, then there would be no hope.

"He's right," Hinata joined in. "We can't give up now. I… I can't give up now. I can't lose Naruto again, to the Undead or otherwise."

"And if Kunbujiya gets his hands on the Kyubi's power, he'll become truly invincible," Atossa added. "I cannot let that happen."

Tsunade stared at the determined look in their eyes. Only just moments ago she could only see the weight of hopelessness in everyone. It seemed to her that Naruto's declaration had blasted away the fear and doubt. However, that did not mean that there was not an army of a million heading towards this way. There seemed to her, there was nothing much they could do but to evacuate the village. At least, the civilian had to go. Now that with her doubts and fears gone, the Hokage found it easier to come up with a possible plan that would protect both the village and Naruto.

"Right," she said. "How long will it take before they arrive…?"


	16. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Lit by the dim flame of her candle, Hiromi cursed herself as her disobedient fingers trembled, slowing down on her work on the cloth that was going to wrap up the last of her supplies. Through the door of her small hut, her ears could pick up the panicked screams of the other villagers as they fled. Her five-year-old child, Midori, stood there aside her, wailing as her young, innocent mind was over-ridden with fear.

The news of the shinobis' defeat came to the Stone before the approaching enemy, thanks to one of their ninja who managed to return and told of the news before she died. Their enemy, who turned to the Stone after destroying the Sand, was rumoured to be a horde of zombies, Undead creatures of such horror that no one could fathom. The Tsuchikage led all the men and women who were capable of combat to meet the invaders, and only one survived long enough to tell the tale. Panic spread amongst the villagers, who only could think of one course of action: fleeing.

It was exactly what Hiromi had in mind.

However, she would have to pack her supplies before that. After all, who knew how long it would take before Hiromi and her daughter reached the closest civilization. She could not afford to have her daughter starving in the wildness of the mountains.

"They're here! They're here!"

The cry made Hiromi jump as she quickened the work of her fingers, which were shaking to the point beyond her control. It seemed like forever before the knot was secured and she flung the bag over on her shoulders. Picking up her daughter from the ground, Hiromi dashed out of the door, and gagged.

The first thing she noticed was the smell of rotting flesh the filled up her nostrils, so strong that she could taste it with her tongue. With one hand holding her daughter and the other holding her bag, there was nothing for Hiromi to do except to open her mouth to breath. All around her, the villagers were screaming, running away with small bags or items. It was hard to see in the moonlight, but from a distance Hiromi could still make out the black dots that littered on the ashen-grey hills, dots that covered the entire hills like ants.

Hiromi could only stare in horror as the dots rolled down the mountain like a black flood rushing towards her. They were moving so quickly that they reached the village in no time at all, despite the fact that the hills were at least half a mile away. Very soon Hiromi could see what those dots were, and to her horror they were dead corpses, horrors with sharp claws and pointed teeth like needles that jagged from their mouths.

They reached the Main Gate all at once, crashing through the gap between the stone walls, dwarfed by the sheer size of the horde. Swinging their lifeless arms around, they slashed their claws at the slowest villagers, cutting through flesh and bone. The terrified screams were now beginning to be mixed with the screams of agony, the painful cries of the dying. Blood splattered around as body parts started to fly.

The panicked villagers flooded away from the Undead, hoping to reach the Back Gate before the invaders reached them first. One of them crashed into Hiromi, knocking her child and her bag off her hands. Luckily, Midori landed on the soft dirt. Before her mother could reach her, however, the panicked crowd already separated the mother from her daughter. Despite the noise, Hiromi could still sieve that out to hear the sounds of her daughter crying. Ignoring the fact that she was now behind most of the running villagers, she turned around to search for her daughter.

Out of a sudden, there was a loud, chilling screech. Hiromi turned around, and found herself looking at nine shadows that were flying in the mid-air. A cold, damp fear completely took over her mind. Without knowing what she was doing, Hiromi abandoned her quest for her child and began to flee.

A quick searing pain on her back stopped her in her tracks.

The woman collapsed onto the ground from the cut that almost cleaved her into two. Hiromi never saw the red, Sharingan eyes of her attacker…

---

The sun was beginning to rise in the Konoha village.

The orange light shone upon the pink hair of a kunoichi as it danced behind her head. Her red dress was rustling as she paced down the streets, her green eyes burning with anticipation. They betrayed the way that her mind was bent on seeking a certain person, one that she had thought dead, and never dreamt of seeing again for the past five years. Beside her was a large, white-haired man with a headband that had the kanji "oil" written on it. They were Sakura and Jiraiya, running down the streets as if the devils were after them.

When Sasuke left the village, it broke Sakura's heart. She thought that she could persuade him to stay, to give up his desire for revenge; or at least, persuade him to let her follow him. The kunoichi thought that she would be important to him, important enough that she could change his mind. She could never been more wrong.

Then there was the disappearance of Naruto. Sakura never realized how important the blonde was to her until she found that he had not returned from his mission for Sasuke. When the kunoichi thought that Naruto was gone from her, she felt as if Naruto had left her heart, leaving behind a black gasping hole that consumed all joy. First it was Sasuke, then Naruto as well. It seemed to her that all the most important people in her life were abandoning her alone in the darkness.

Rather than to dwell upon her sorrow, Sakura focused her mind onto one thing: training. With her high control of chakra, Sakura was recommended to Tsunade to be trained as a medic nin. The pink-haired kunoichi certainly did not waste this opportunity to be trained under one of the Legendary Three. For the past five years she dedicated herself into chakra control and molding, as well as learning all the three hundred most commonly used herbs off by heart. Sakura also learnt the secret of her teacher's immense strength- the result of a special method of chakra channelling- as well as Tsunade's highly prized jutsu: the Souzousaisei, Genesis Rebirth, which explained the red dot in the middle of the kunoichi's rather large forehead as well as her shapely figure.

When she heard stories about "a blonde-haired man with whisker-like tattoos", Sakura scarcely believed them. No, she did not let herself to believe them, to give herself hope that Naruto may still be alive. After all, "the higher the hopes, the greater the disappointment." Sakura went through five years of trouble of trying to put that behind her. The kunoichi did not want to waste all that effort.

Therefore when Tsunade offered the task of seeking the truth about the Naruto stories, she declined. Instead, Sakura volunteered for another mission: protection of a rich merchant and his goods from the Leaf to the Wave Country. It was a rank-C mission: hardly any challenge for the apprentice of the Hokage, but it was enough to occupy Sakura for the moment. Her mission was complete and she was on her way back to Konoha when news of the Sand's fall reached her ears.

Sakura had basic knowledge about demons, yes, but she never heard that they had their own country, on top of that, an empire. However, her strategic mind told her if the Sand was destroyed, Konoha would be next. Hence she raced back to the Leaf, hopefully that she would not be too late.

It was about when she arrived she was told that Naruto had returned.

Shock, surprise, amazement, all those emotions bottled up inside her heart when she was confirmed of the news by the man whom Naruto had lived with for the past five years: the Sennin Jiraiya. When Sakura found him he was running down the streets. The Toad Sennin was certainly hard not to be recognized: ever since he turned up during the cooperated invasion from the Sand and Sound during the Chunnin exam, his unique features, as well as his unusual habits, was well known to all shinobis. However, she was still surprised when she saw him, who had been unseen from the Leaf for the past five years.

He was running down the streets when she met him. Somehow, Jiraiya seemed to have recognized Sakura to be Tsunade's disciple, and stopped to ask if she was going to see the Hokage. He beckoned her to follow him, as he was going for the Hokage as well. The Sennin told Sakura what was happening on the way, and mentioned that Naruto had returned to the Leaf, which made her heart jump. From that point on, her thoughts could only ponder upon her former team-mate whom she had believed to be long dead.

It did not take long before her green eyes took notice of a blonde man walking in a party of four.

Sakura opened her mouth to let out a small gasp. Naruto turned around, and his eyes instantly glued to hers when they met. The blonde opened his mouth to let out a small gasp.

---

He knew it was going to happen. Deep inside his heart Naruto knew that it would eventually come to this. However, he did not expect it to be so soon.

As his eyes stared at the petite, shapely form of Sakura in front of him, Naruto did not know what he should do. He could not read anything from her green eyes. What did she want with him? Was she still angry with him for not keeping his promise? The familiar, heavy, weighty feeling of guilt began to swell in his heart as he thought of Sasuke, of how he had made the "good guy poise" to Sakura as he promised to get him back. This was the very first time that Naruto turned back on his word, and the blonde shinobi was pretty unsure of what he should do.

Out of a sudden, the pink-haired kunoichi burst into tears and pounced upon him.

"You… you dope!" she sobbed, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her tearful face onto his. She paused for a moment to give his shoulder a couple of slaps, then preceded to crying again.

"Why don't you come back, you… you idiot!?" she cried. "Don't you know how much trouble you've caused me, you… you fool!"

Naruto softened and placed his hand on her shoulders. "I… I'm sorry… I didn't bring Sasuke back…"

"You baka!"

Sakura buried her face on Naruto. There was nothing more to be said.

---

Hinata stared as the pink-haired kunoichi continued to cry on the shoulder of her favourite shinobi, her mouth slightly opened to let out small gasps. Every time she heard a sob, every stroke Naruto made upon Sakura's hair, her heart ached as if it was stabbed by a knife.

Even though she had spent so much time with him, Hinata never took the chance to tell him how she felt. She did not know why, but whenever the words were at the edge of her mouth, the hunter-nin would swallow them and said something else instead. Deep in her heart there was fear: fear of the fact that she did not know how Naruto would respond. The blonde was nice to her, but she just could not tell what he was thinking deep inside his heart.

Now she knew.

Hinata wanted to burst out in tears, wanted to let out her grief at the fact that the man she had given her heart to for the past five years did not return her love. It was not his fault, really. She knew very well that she never managed to get the courage to confess to him. Still, it did not make it any less painful.

She didn't cry out, however. Instead, Hinata calmed herself down and saw it in another light. She was glad that her love found his love, someone whom he could relate to, and important person whom he could care about. It did not matter very much that that "someone" was not her. Besides, Sakura was a good girl. Naruto should be very happy with her.

Mardonius' voice broke her reverie.

"Greetings, Jiraiya," he said. "What is the situation?"

Sakura looked up, saw Mardonius and Atossa, and gave a squeal.

"Don't worry, Sakura," Naruto said. "They're on our side. Mardonius and Atossa. This is Sakura-chan."

"Nice to meet you," Atossa clutched her hand in a fist on her chest and bowed.

Mardonius merely nodded. "What is the situation, Jiraiya? Any updates regarding the Undead?"

"The Undead army gathered together in a camp five miles north-west off the village," the Sennin replied. "It seems to me that they're regrouping and stopping their search."

"Their general must have figured out that we would have reached the village by now," the Nathmenid mused. "It sounds like that they would be waiting for reinforcements before attempting to attack. This wait would be useful for us."

"Why?" Hinata asked.

Mardonius turned to Naruto. "Naruto," he said, pointing to the blonde's stomach. "I think it is time that we finish off what we started."


	17. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Leaving the Hokage building, the pink-haired kunoichi set off to find the Nathmenid demons, as instructed by her teacher. She slowly walked down the street, her green eyes looking very carefully around as she searched for the winged couple.

Under the board daylight, Sakura could not help but noticing the villagers around her as she walked down the Konoha streets. It was not the way that they tend to their daily basis: for a village that was about to be attacked by a horde of undying monsters, the Leaf villagers seemed to be coping very well. In fact, they were coping so well that the kunoichi began to wonder if the villagers even knew of the upcoming doom. However, they all seemed to be coping too well, going about their daily business with a strange sort of rigidity, like machines performing their tasks. There was one thing missing however, and at first Sakura could not tell what.

That was when Sakura began to see what lay within their eyes.

Fear. Cold damp fear.

At that point, Sakura suddenly realized that these people were not coping with it at all. They were bluffing, all of them; trying to tough it out by acting as if nothing was wrong. However, the fear was all too evident in their eyes, and in the rigidity of the way that they perform their daily duties. The pink-haired kunoichi suddenly felt a heavy chill in her heart, like a veil of gloom that these people exhibit covering up all joy that she felt in finding Naruto before.

The sky, too, was cloudy, as if to reflect those people's emotions. In fact, clouds were gathering towards the part of the sky above a nearby part of the outer wall…

There was a sudden crash as a thunderbolt struck straight down and hit something behind that wall. Everyone around her gave a sudden jump and turned around to see what was going on. Then orange beams of light appeared, flickering behind that wall like light from a fire.

It was then Sakura remembered what Mardonius told her earlier that day.

It was hard for her to remember the name of the Yaduni-something ritual, but she did understand the part about Naruto being, or used to be, the vessel for the spirit of the Kyubi. At first she was a bit shocked. After all, she was grown up with stories of the horrors that the Nine-tail fox demon did upon the Leaf. However, it also answered a couple of queries that Sakura never realized that she had up till that moment: why the blonde was hated by all adults, why he got such awesome power during the Chunnin exam. It brought her slight relief that Mardonius and Atossa managed to separate out the demon from the Kyubi power and reseal the demon underground, leaving behind the raw power inside Naruto, which meant that technically Naruto no longer had the Kyubi. The Nathmenids now only had to remake a proper seal to house the tremendous demonic power for Naruto to safely assess to.

However, that ritual needed open space. Due to the fact that the villagers hated Kyubi to the point that they hated the vessel, Naruto, it was not possible to perform the ritual within the village. After some discussion, Mardonius and Atossa decided to do that outside the village, even though they knew that they risked being unable to defend themselves should the Undead came. However, the locked power of the Kyubi would be most useful in the village's defense. Given the dire situation, anything that would even the scale even a little would be mostly desired indeed.

It seemed to her that she did not miss the ritual entirely.

The kunoichi rushed towards the part of the wall, and leapt over it easily. She found herself staring at a blonde man sitting legs crossed on the ground, with Mardonius and Atossa standing beside him. Their eyes were closed in concentration as they held their hands over Naruto's head, where there was a glow of white light in between their palms. Hinata stood nearby, her hands covering her opened mouth. Sakura opened her mouth in awe at the sight of Naruto who was entirely enveloped inside an orange, cold flame.

The white light disappeared as the Nathmenids withdrew their hands, yet Naruto was still covered in the orange aura.

"Ah, Sakura, you're back," Mardonius smiled at the kunoichi. "We have just finished the seal. As you see here, the process is a success..."

"Naruto, is he...?"

"He's fine," Atossa grinned and waved a hand at the blonde, who was still inside the orange aura. "Better than ever, in fact."

"That is just the energy of the Nine Tails coming out in controlled qualities from his orifices," replied Mardonius. "This is a necessary part of the _Yaduniea _kunjodotaea, since according to the second law..."

Atossa raised her hands in interruption. "I think we can get to the second law of energetic conversation later, Mardonius," she said.

Soon enough, the orange flames disappeared. Naruto opened his eyes and looked into his palms.

"This… this is weird," he commented as he got up. "I feel… powerful, energetic."

"Ah, the closing phase," Mardonius said. "'The power of the Nathmenid is in your hands, Naruto. Bear it well.' "

Everyone stared at the Nathmenid as if he was the strangest thing in the world.

Atossa rolled her eyes and let out a small sigh, "First of all, that isn't the Nathmenid power," she commented. "Secondly, you don't have to follow every step to every single word, Mardonius!"

The male Nathmenid raised an eyebrow. "But the prayers are an important part of the _Yaduniea kunjodotaea_ as well…"

Before Atossa finished taking her breath and starting on another line of argument, Sakura broke into the discussion.

"Mardonius, Atossa," she said. "The Hokage wants you to be in her meeting. Now."

Mardonius looked at her. "Us?" he asked. The pink-haired kunoichi nodded.

"Strange… anyhow," the Nathmenid commented as they all moved back into the village.

---

Their black cloaks with red clouds fluttered behind them in the wind as Deidara and Itachi rode on the huge clay bird, their eyes occasionally watered from the black smoke that was rising from below. Deidara brushed the long blonde fringe away from his eye as he surveyed the ruins below.

To the blonde Akatsuki, it was a waste of time. Even from afar within the camps of the Immortals, he could still make out the black smokes rising from the Sand village- an indication of it being attacked and sacked. They had been too late: Kunbujiya's Undead had reached here first. They should immediately turn away to head east to catch up with their enemy.

Yet Roxana decided that they should survey the damage. Deidara could not understand why. They knew the full extent of the invasion force: he and Itachi had seen to that. There was no chance of any supplies either. He and Roxana knew the destructively thorough nature of the Undead very well.

What an utter waste of time.

Deidara looked back at his partner for this mission. Itachi was staring down at the ruin as well, his pitch dark eyes revealing nothing, like always.

---

Itachi stared at the ruins of the Sand village, his red-clouded cloak flapping in the wind.

The Sand Village was completely obliterated, burnt down and destroyed. A heavy stench of blood filled the air, and the streets were lined with row after row of scorched walls, torn down building that were a reminder of the carnage that happened here. Some of them were still on fire, while others were pattern with blood. The only sign that life had ever existed in this torn world were the pieces of red body part, mutilated to the degree that they could not be raised and be used by the Undead.

It was just like the aftermath of his own slaughtering years back then.

Itachi's lips tightened, the only sign of the guilt that was beginning to build up in his heart.

It was not due to the fact that he had the blood of that blasted Uchiha, even though that was tied to the Nathmenids. It was not very surprising, Itachi discovered. Most bloodline limits could be traced to those half-demons, their blood somehow diffused through the Royal Wall. The same was for the Hyuuga. That was a secret that most clans with bloodline limits shared, and guarded rigorously; so rigorously, in fact, that most of the time that none of them, save the highest elders and the most influential, realized that they had demonic blood flowing in their veins.

That would mean that the Uchiha had an obligation to the Dawn Empire. However, Nathmenids were also rarely interested in the affairs of humans: their empire was almost too big for them to govern properly already, and their resources were abundant. There was absolutely no need for the demon-hunters to intervene with the human matters. In fact, the Nathmenids were so elusive to the humans that it was only about seven years ago when Itachi first heard of them from his father.

It was also the time when the new King of the Demons changed the isolationist custom of the Nathmenids.

It was a clan meeting, Itachi remembered, when his father discussed the matter of delivering the Kyubi to King Kunbujiya. He could still remember the surprise when he first learnt that the demons had their own empire in the far west, even further than the Sand. It was the first time he heard the name Nathmenid.

However, none of them were more surprising to the subject at hand: the plan to complete their mission to acquire the Kyubi for the King of the Dead.

Even though he knew nothing about the Nathmenids, Itachi could still see that there was something very wrong with this "King Kunbujiya", who out of a sudden broke the habit of self-seclusion and went off to ask for the allegiance of the Uchiha in his quest for the Kyubi. It would be idiotic to just give him what he wanted before learning what was exactly going on.

When Itachi pointed this out, however, the Elders only told him to shut up.

However, Itachi was not alone in his views. His best friend Uchiha Shisui also thought that it was weird for the Uchiha to follow this Kunbujiya so blindly. Eager to learn more about the Nathmenids and this "Dawn Empire" of theirs, they began to do their own investigation into this Nathmenid and the Empire that he ruled. Unfortunately for them, any information that even remotely mentioned those elusive half-demons was scarce at best.

Later on, though, they managed to get what they wanted. A mission had ended up with them at the southern part of the Wind Country. There, Itachi and Shisui met someone they did not expect: Roxana Kosdata, _hazarapatish_ of the Nathmenid Immortal army, and leader of the Honsei Akatsuki. It was from her that they finally learnt the truth about Kunbujiya and his biddings.

What they learnt shocked them to the bone and propelled them to betray the Uchiha.

Itachi volunteered to kill his own clan as a token of loyalty to Roxana. The Nathmenid general told him that in order to gain enough power to destroy the Uchiha clan, he must activate his Mangekyou Sharingan, the most powerful Sharingan of them all. To do this, he must do something evil: like killing his best friend.

Itachi was horrified by this idea, and rejected it at first. However, Shisui's kunai somehow got out of the hoister and stabbed itself into its owner's stomach. Before Itachi could comprehend what happened, Roxana told him that his friend was going to die. It would be up to Itachi to finish that job by giving the death-blow and get the Mangekyou, or else he, Shisui, would have died in vain. Realizing that the Nathmenid was somehow responsible, Itachi lunged at her, but was stopped by Shisui. His friend told him that he had agreed to her logic and he would have done it himself. Shisui told Itachi to avenge him on the Uchiha. With tears in his eyes, Itachi pulled out his kunai and stabbed him in the chest.

With the most powerful Sharingan in his disposal, there was nothing that would stand in his way to exterminate the traitors, every last one of them.

How he hated them all, those weaklings who were so willing to be enslaved; traitors who forced him to destroy his best friend… no, traitors who _destroyed_ Shisui. The more he loved them once, the more he hated them.

Hence Itachi hated Sasuke most of all, since he loved him most before. The Sharingan user clutched his fists in anger at the thought. He felt betrayed; betrayed by this little brother of his, who had cheated him of his love. He could not wait to tear apart his little brother, limb by limb…

Yet he never killed him. Itachi gave Sasuke a false hope that he would one day be able to surpass him, like an unreachable carrot dangling in front of a donkey. He had killed his family, destroyed the little world that he had. Now Sasuke had to cling onto this very little hope, and everyday live like a hollow shell. Itachi knew that was most torturous thing of all.

It was something that was far worse than death.

"Lord Itachi?" a feeble voice broke his revere.

Itachi looked up and saw the concerned face of Deidara.

"There's nothing left of the Sand," the Uchiha said simply. "Let's go back."

"Aye," acknowledged his partner.


	18. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"So a great army, you say," the scarred form of Ibiki said to the gigantic form of Jiraiya aloud, even though he was right next to him, so that the others could hear. "How many?"

Tsunade looked at the torture specialist before scanning her eyes around the room. About everyone Jounin level or above were here in this very meeting room, all those who could come. The Hokage was sitting with her legs folded behind her Hokage front table, in between two Elders of the Leaf. Placed in front of Tsunade was the model of the entire Leaf Village. Tsunade's eyes darted to Mardonius and Atossa who, unlike the others, were sitting with their legs crossed. That, on top of their appearance, made them stood out like a sore thumb.

Even with the help of Jiraiya, it took a while before Tsunade could persuade her two Elders to allow the demons to come. They were still demons, after all. On top of that, it was because of the Nathmenids that this war council had to take place. The Elders found it a bit hard to trust those two, even when Tsunade and Jiraiya pointed out that their powers and knowledge about the Nathmenids were vital to the Konoha's defense. Given the stares that the two received when they entered, Tsunade did not think that the others, save Sakura and Hinata, do, either.

Jiraiya barely looked up and muttered, "Six hundred thousand at least."

That answer, as expected, created a chorus of gasps within the room. Mardonius and Atossa stared at him, disbelief evident in their eyes. Gai, the jounin in a green suit with oiled hair, let out a long whistle.

"By the gods," said Anko, with horror filling her beautiful features. "The means we're outnumbered by… a thousand to one?"

"Blah, we've seen worse," Hiashi said, his cold, white eyes glaring. "The Hyuuga should be able to take them."

"Yeah," cried out Gai. "They will fall like leaves before the valour of youth!"

Everyone looked at the green beast of Konoha with a weird glare.

"Yes, Gai, it is not as hopeless as it sounds," Tsunade replied. "I've got a battle plan that I wanted to discuss with you all…" She was interrupted by the sound of a sliding door.

"Hokage-sama," the emerged ninja, red in the face and panting for breath, burst out. "They're here! They've come!"

---

Without any warning, they came.

It all began when black clouds started to roll over the top o the village, casting dark shadows upon the streets of Konoha. Then the villagers began to detect a peculiar smell. It was the smell of rotting flesh, floating in the air as if announcing the death that was about to come. It started off as a faint odour, detectable only by those with the strongest of noses, particularly those from the Inuzuka clan. Then it began to turn stronger, like a sound that was turning up its volume. Soon everyone realized that there was this deathly scent in the air, and began to wonder where it came from.

It did not take long before they found out.

A dozen or so missiles flew over the walls, smashing into the walls and landing on the ground and people alike, leaving behind a bloody smear. At first glace they looked lik normal rocks. Once landed, however, some of these "rocks" began to uncurl themselves, snarling with their needle-sharp teeth and deadly claws. The odour of rot rolled off their bodies. Several bore the remnants of the Sand headband.

They were no rocks. These were zombies, the re-animated dead.

They first marched towards the gate, slaughtering everything in their path. The shinobi in the village tried to stop the monsters, but found that they could not kill them. No amount of punching and kicking seemed to have any affect upon their animated dead flesh. The ninjas were slaughtered like pigs.

Then they reached the gate. Finding it empty, they opened it.

With the main gates open, the flood of Undead rushed through like tainted water bursting through a crack in a dam. Seeing this, the nearby villagers all scampered away, screaming as the monsters approached. The slower ones were killed and trampled on. Some of the Undead were holding lit torches, which they did not hesitate to use to lit the wooden buildings or anything nearby that was flammable.

It began.

---

Hitstapa smiled as his wave of Undead burst through the gate and swept into the Konoha streets, consuming everything in its path. Standing in the safety of a tall tree, from his view he could see everything happening inside the village, not to mention the sights that his zombies gave him.

Behind him, hidden inside the layers of leaves, was a line of catapults where the zombies systematically continued in their work. Some of them were operating these blood-smeared war-engines, pulling down the arms with which the simple machines hurled their missiles. Others were loading themselves into the spoon at the end of the arms before being flung away into the village, giving the Undead inside both artillery support as well as reinforcement. It was a quick and easy method to get as many zombies at the back of the army inside the walls as possible.

It took him a while before he could calm himself down after he realized that he made a mistake in attacking too early. When he did, however, the Nathmenid general found that his opponents had made an even bigger mistake. By utilizing full strength back in the forest, they could not use that amount of power again for at least a couple of months, which basically meant that they had wasted their chance in destroying him and his army. Meanwhile he still had not used up his power allowances yet, which would give him an advantage.

There would not be a better time to strike.

As his army outflanked and completely surrounded the outer wall, Hitstapa crossed his arms and watched. He would destroy this little village to reach the Nine Tails He would do that just like Kabuto had destroyed the Sand.

---

Naruto dashed out of the ramen shop when he heard the first screams, only to find the sea of zombies rushing through the streets of Konoha towards him.

The Undead had arrived.

They were coming for him, he knew that perfectly well. He was the reason that they were here. Naruto thought that they would stop for a moment before they invade, but it seemed that whoever commanded them hesitated little in attacking the strongest hidden village of all.

He knew that he should not do that, but he reached for the holster tied to his thigh and pulled out a kunai. He knew that he would be risking himself being taken, thus wasting the efforts of the Hokage, Mardonius and Atossa, but he could not just stand there while the Undead pillaged and destroyed everything in its path, and especially it was because of him.

He had to fight.

Naruto charged up his chakra and lunged towards the sea of Undead.

---

The screams of terror filled the streets as all rushed out of the meeting room to the balcony of the Hokage building. From the high view of the balcony, the Hokage could see that the flood of zombies were rushing down the streets, destroying everything that got in its way.

The first thing that came to her mind was Naruto.

"Damn it," she yelled out. She should have taken Naruto into the meeting as well for his safety. However, her elders would not have allowed it: no matter how powerful Naruto had become, he was still technically a genin and had no right to attend a war council. On hindsight, Tsunade should have Naruto stay inside the Hokage building instead of leaving him outside where he would be vulnerable.

That knowledge would not help with the situation, however. In fact, the only thing that would help was to find Naruto as quickly as possible. That would have to be done while defending the village from the Undead…

"Anko, Ibiki!" she shouted. "Get the rest of the villagers into the caves! The rest, defend yourselves!"

Tsunade instantly threw herself off the balcony, her hands forming a series of hand seals while she fell.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

The Hokage landed herself right at the back of her summon, Katsuyu the Giant Slug.

"What the…?" the blue-and-white mass opened its eyes wide in surprise as it surveyed the ocean of Undead flooding in the Konoha streets. "Zeshi Nensan!"

Greenish brown liquid squirted out of the summon's mouth and onto the crowd of zombies. With a loud hiss, the acid melted the rotting flesh to the bone.

Yet even when they were merely skeletons, they still kept on moving.

It was then there was a shout, "Gama Yuendan!"

A ball of fire whizzed past Katsuyu and exploded on the Undead, incinerating a huge bunch of them into ash.

Tsunade turned around. Standing at the top of the Giant Toad Gama Bunta was Jiraiya.

"That won't work, Tsunade," he said. "You've got to take them out completely!"

Tsunade nodded. That would mean that there was only one option left for her. She whispered a command to her Slug.

Immediately, the Slug slid onto the lines of Undead, toppling them over and squashing them flat as if walking on a crowd of ants. Tsunade looked around and searched for Naruto.

---

Anko and Ibiki appeared amongst chaos in a cloud of smoke.

Panic and hysteria filled the streets of Konoha as its citizens ran for their lives from the oncoming Undead. Nearby, a group of shinobi had gathered together to stop the advance, only to be shredded down by the hundreds of those long talons that the monsters wield.

It seemed that they had arrived rather too late at this point.

Anko was the first one to act. She pulled out a kunai attached to an exploding note and threw it at the line of zombies. The resulting explosion consumed the front line of the monsters and attracted attention of the fleeing villagers to Anko.

"Follow me!" Anko shouted. "Into the caves! And stay together!"

As she went, all the other villagers followed her like a herd of sheep.

---

With a silent mental command, Mardonius had his line of kataya flying towards a nearby group of zombies. Before they could reach the Undead, however, a sudden pain struck his chest, causing him to lose concentration. The magical swords went way off course and struck a nearby house, destroying it completely with explosions. He clutched his chest, where underneath the clothing there was a faint blue light.

He could hardly keep his wings flapping.

"_Dastaka_," the Nathmenid cursed in his native tongue through his teeth. He knew that he was weakened, which was why hence he kept himself up in the air for as long as he could, taking breaks on the roofs to keep away from the reach of the zombie claws. However, he did not expect that he could not even control his kataya from distance. He was never in this state before. Then again, he never had to use his powers again just one day after exerting himself so much when he was in the forest.

That did not change what he had to do, unfortunately. If he did not find Naruto soon that everything would be ruined…

First though, he would still need to see what he could do. Mardonius focused his mind, and saw that everything around him was slowing time.

Well, at least he still had his time controls.

Mardonius quickly summoned his kataya in his hand and lunged towards the Undead.

---

From his view, Hitstapa saw the giant frog and slug fighting his Undead, crushing his zombies in their wake.

"So, they had summons as well? Interesting," he thought to himself. In his mind, he gave the mental command to the zombies controlling the catapults, ordering them to fire burning stones bundled with oil-soaked cloth.

The Nathmenid general then pressed his hands together and focused his mind.

As he concentrated, a white light appeared several meters above his head, lightning streaking out from the glowing point of energy. The light split into two, and in between them white bones appear as if they were wielded from the thin air. Very quickly, the skeleton was complete.

It was as huge as the frog summon of the humans. It had a large, dog-like skull, but it had two large antlers. Its skeletal wings beat the air, keeping the beast in the air with some magical force. It tucked its four limbs under the rib cage and let out an earth shattering roar.

This was the skeleton dragon, the summon of Hitstapa.


	19. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The zombies suddenly stopped what they were doing for a moment, then resumed their work of destruction.

The line of fire whizzed past Tsunade and her slug, missing them by a couple of inches. It hit a cottage, and it was instantly consumed by fire. The Hokage turned around, and was frozen in shock at what she saw.

Staring back at her were the empty sockets of a large, dog-like skull. Attached to it at its back was a long vertebrate where ribs hung. On its back was a pair of skeletal wings, flapping vigorously to keep the beast afloat, though how they did that without their membranes the Hokage had no idea. Its four legs of bone were tugged underneath the ribs, each ending with long, sharp talons.

Tsunade had never seen anything at all like it.

It headed straight for her, the teeth and claws slashing dangerously. Tsunade only managed to sidestep just in time before the large beast charged through where she was. The resulting wind almost blew her over to the side of her slug.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya cried as he and Gama Bunta turned around for her and her slug.

Gama Bunta was more interested in the enemy that she fought. "What? First zombies, and now a skeleton dragon?" he said. "What kind of enemy are we fighting against?"

The skeleton dragon turned around in flight as Gama Bunta pulled out his sword, which had not been useful against the zombies but would be more effective against a larger enemy. The skeleton opened its mouth and flames shot out in a straight line, like a flame thrower. Gama Bunta deflected the attack with his sword, and swung it at the skeletal monster.

It dodged out of the way as it levitated itself upwards.

"Gama Yuendan!"

The Toad Sennin breathed out fire, which lit the oil that was coming out of the mouth of his toad summon, shooting at the enemy in high speed. Yet again, the skeleton dragon dodged effortlessly.

Jiraiya scowled as he quickly considered his options, which he found to be quite frustratingly limited.

"Zeshi Nensan!"

Katsuyu spat her acid at the bony body. Yet again the skeleton dragon dodged.

The skeleton dragon lunged down at Jiraiya and Gama Bunta. The giant toad jumped out of the way just before the sharp claws landed their mark.

The dragon turned around and went for the slug instead. Katsuyu tried to dodge, but was hardly quick enough for the agile monster. The skeleton sank its bone claws into the soft flesh of the slug, and breathed its flames at point-blank range. Tsunade jumped just in time before the fire hit the head of the slug.

The claws did not cause as much damage, as Katsuyu could regenerate from such physical blow. However, the fire burnt the head into crisps.

Then Tsunade took this opportunity to leap from her slug and landed a punch onto the dragon's spine.

Her immense strength shattered the vertebrae, breaking the skeleton into two.

The Hokage landed on a nearby roof. Turning around, she saw Katsuyu's falling apart, breaking into thousands of smaller slugs. The two halves of the monster fell onto the ground as the slugs scattered and joined together into the massive from of Katsuyu.

The two parts of the skeleton then glowed green as the broken vertebrae moved like a snake. Finding each other, they fused back together before Tsunade's eyes when they touch.

The dragon flipped itself back onto its feet and let out an earth-shattering roar.

It was about then a series of fireballs started to pummel into the village, lighting fires on the roofs of buildings.

From the corner of his eye, Jiraiya could see that the burning rocks came from a nearby point in the forest behind the skeleton dragon. However, there was no way that he could get there unless he got through…

Things were getting bad, real bad.

---

Atossa finished hacking the zombie just before her ten seconds, the maximum time limit that she could hold the flow of time at this moment, ran out. As everything around her started to move again, she quickly leapt into the air and flew, landing herself on the top of a nearby building. She clutched her knees and leaned forward as she panted for breathe.

It was about then when the Undead started to fire their rocks bundled inside burning, oil-filled cloth.

The Nathmenid muttered a couple of phrases under her breathe as she held her palm up. The flaming projectiles all bounced off at the wall of space-time rupture at a five meter radius off her.

Then in a nearby narrow alley she saw Mardonius, surrounded tightly by Undead and fighting for his life. He was moving so fast that his Kataya was only a stream of white light darting here and there.

She leapt from her building, her mind focusing onto the easier ability to slow down time. As everything began to slow down, Atossa began to see her lover's movements at their normal speed.

Atossa flew straight towards Mardonius, cutting down a line of Undead before landing next to him. "Not so good without your little army of swords, aren't you?" she teased.

Her boyfriend let out a small snort as he hacked down more zombies, though he seemed to be putting in more strength than normal. The destruction of the enemy created some room between them and their enemies.

"We need to find Naruto," he said when they took the chance to take off in the air.

"I know," Atossa replied. "But first…"

Her words were interrupted by a scorching rock flying towards them. The two separated and dodged, then turned around to see the missile landing onto a house with an explosion.

"We need to do something about those things as well!" Atossa cried. Mardonius looked past her and nodded.

"We're the only ones that can deal with the catapults now," he said as Atossa turned around to see the burning missiles coming from a certain point in the forest. "This way!"

The two darted away.

---

Hinata slammed her palm at a nearby zombie, blowing it up in a cloud of rotting blood, flesh and bone. Nearby, other Hyuugas were fighting against their ghastly enemy, pommeling them with blows into a line of snarling teeth and slashing claws.

When the Undead reached the Hyuuga mansion, the Hyuuga were ready, as Hiashi had returned from the war council and arranged the defense. All that could fight swarmed out of the streets and fought against their enemy. Only the women and the invalid were allowed to retreat into the caves along with the other villagers.

However, their gentle fist style did not help much in destroying the incoming zombies. Only an occasion Kaiten from Hiashi or Neji flung the Undead back, slamming them into bloody heap onto the walls and onto the ground, and kept the zombies at bay.

That was before Hinata came in.

She punched, kicked, palmed at the zombies who were flooding in the streets, threatening the Hyuugas and their mansion. Since she had no further training in the gentle style after her banishment from her clan, to the other Hyuugas her movements were awkward and clumsy. Yet the way that she could blow up any zombie by forcing in chakra into their rotting bodies made some of them watch her in awe- and led to some more skilful ones to take the idea and started to destroy the zombies instead of just holding them back. Unknown to her, Hinata was gaining a bit of respect from her former clan.

As for Hinata, she hardly cared. In fact, she did not know why she came here, when her only thought was to find Naruto. Hinata even rushed to the opposite direction as Hiashi when they all left the Hokage building. Despite that, she still found herself back with the Hyuugas, fighting the Undead with them at her side. Was it a coincidence?

Or was there, in her subconscious mind, a care for the her clansmen?

Hinata pushed the thought aside as she wheeled around to avoid a slashing claw before slamming her palm at the zombies face. Her fingertips only grazed the skin, but the brief contact was already enough for Hinata to pump her chakra into the zombie's body, the speed of the process enough to overload the dead inner coil systems and blowing the body up.

This wasn't a good time to think about her relationship with her former clan.

"Hinata!" a familiar voice cried out. Hinata turned around, and saw a Hyuuga running towards her. "You returned!"

It took her a moment before she recognized him to be Neji, her cousin. Just like any other Hyuuga, Hinata had not seen him for years. He was still the same Neji that Hinata remembered: the same long hair, the same eyes that harboured the same determination. His white robes, though blood soaked, were still the same style as the ones he used to wore.

Hinata destroyed another zombie before replying. "I'm not here to fight for the Hyuuga," she said coldly. "I'm here to fight for the village, and for Naruto-kun."

Neji looked as if he got a punch in the face. "I… I know," he replied.

"You've seen Naruto anywhere?" Hinata asked as they fought.

"No…" Neji looked up and pointed. "What the…?"

Hinata turned around and saw a man in orange flames jumping off a building.

---

Naruto leapt from the roof of the building, and danced at the frontline of the Undead, his kunai flowing in graceful arcs as it cleaved off rotting heads, hands and feet.

Never before had he felt so light-hearted, so free. The Kyubi energy was flowing inside him with ease under his command, as if it had been a part of him all along. His feet danced under him, and his arms swung their kunai at the enemy, following the rhythm of the music that was the shouts and screams of battle. Naruto felt like that time when he had too much coffee in the morning, yet no amount of caffeine could produce such pleasantries, such… beauty.

The blonde almost missed the sight of other shinobis that were within the battlefield.

"Hello, Hinata," he said to the wide-eyed hunter-nin. "Having fun?" he asked, as he casually beheaded a nearby zombie and cleaved the body into halves with two clean strokes.

The white-eyed girl stared at him, looking stunned for a second.

"Good," Naruto replied as he turned around to see another burning rock flying whizzing through the air. "Got to deal with the catapults. See you later."

With that, he turned around and disappeared inside the lines of the Undead.

---

Hinata was still staring in shock even when Naruto was already gone.

There was something wrong with the blonde man. It was not the playfulness: she knew very well that most seasoned warriors would joke and tease each other in the battlefield, but that was to cover up the fear and dread. Hinata could find nothing of such in Naruto. His dancing aura and his lively mood was no pretension.

In fact, he seemed to be enjoying the battle, heartily.

Then Hinata recalled those eyes- red with a slit in the middle- and she felt a chill in her heart. It was not the fact that they were not Naruto's normal eyes that scared her. She had seen Naruto with those eyes before- when he was under the control of the Kyubi. Knowing that the Kyubi soul was gone from the blonde and only the raw Kyubi power was left, she figured out quickly that those eyes meant that Naruto was just utilizing the Kyubi power: not that she would be surprised by that, given the situation of the battle.

No, it was something else entirely.

Even as Hinata slammed her hand onto an incoming zombie, she could not get her mind off the sight of those eyes. They were cold, soulless; almost as if all the humanity behind them was gone, detached from all feelings and emotions from this world. They shone with a callous light, a sick pleasure due to the sight of… death and destruction, pain and suffering. She cringed again at thought of the unholy aura that those eyes seemed to possess. This feeling… it reminded her of the torture of Kabuto, when his evil screech that seemed to rip her mind apart, long ago back when she first left the forest.

When all fear and shock had subsided, Hinata was left only with one question.

What have you become, Naruto-kun?


	20. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Hitstapa was still admiring the work of his army when he suddenly noticed a blonde man coming towards him. Wondering how such a human could go through the lines after lines of zombies, the Nathmenid general gave a mental order to the nearby Undead to move in for the kill. To his surprise, the man dodged every single blow, and destroyed every zombies sent for him. It was about then Hitstapa recognized him.

It was the vessel of the Nine Tails.

This would be an opportunity of a lifetime.

Hitstapa raised his hand and concentrated, his mind focusing onto moving the object that was the vessel's body. His mental force formed an invisible hand that curled itself around him…

Then out of a sudden, a powerful energy surged through his mind, and an agonizing pain filled his skill. Forced to break his concentration, Hitstapa winced and stared at the blonde. There was a demonic power inside that human, and it had struck back at his mental control. This came as a surprise, especially when he could lift him up into the air easily back then. Only the Kyubi itself could manage its power in such a way.

This could mean only one thing.

Hitstapa made a curse for the Nathmenid couple as he summoned his Kataya, spread his wings and lunged into combat.

---

After slaughtering the zombies that ambushed him, Naruto rushed further into the forest in his search for the hidden catapults. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a black shape coming towards him from above.

Heh, another toy for him to break.

Naruto skilfully pulled out and threw a kunai at his new attacker. With a white flash, his opponent cut it into pieces with a white glowing beam which Naruto recognized to be a Nathmenid Kataya. The blonde was still trying to comprehend his movements when jumped out of the way by instinct to avoid a downward stroke of the beam. Naruto leaned back to dodged an upper sweep of the energetic blade, and in the process landed his foot onto his enemy's chest with a loud metallic rustle, sending him flying.

He saw his wings spreading behind him to slow himself down. It was then Naruto saw his enemy in detail. Much like Mardonius and Atossa, he had a pair of horns on his head and glowing red eyes. Along with the bat-like wings on his back, Naruto concluded that his opponent was a Nathmenid demon. Unlike the demon couple, this one was wearing black armour, consisting of a heavy chain-mail along with guards on the shoulders and legs. His head was covered with a matching black helmet.

Finally, someone who could stand against him.

Naruto grinned as he charged again, his eyes beginning to adjust to the speed of his enemy.

---

Hitstapa was braced himself as he prepared for the blonde's next attack.

Even with his mind focusing on slowing down time, it seemed that the vessel somehow managed to keep up with his speed. Hitstapa hardly had time to react when his opponent chucked a series those strange-shaped knives at him. After he blocked them all with his Kataya, the Nathmenid general saw that the blonde had leapt up into the air, a swirling blue ball of energy in his palm. By experience, Hitstapa knew that one could not move very fast after a jump into the air, since there was nothing little to push against. Therefore he spun around to avoid the swirling ball, which he supposed to be dangerous, and swung his weapon towards the blonde's legs.

He disappeared in white smoke when the blow landed.

Surprised, the Nathmenid only managed to begin to turn around when the kick landed on his back, sending his face onto the ground, rolling a couple paces before coming to a stop. Hitstapa looked up, and saw that the blonde was charging at him, with the same ball of energy in his raised palm.

The Nathmenid just managed to roll away in time when the blow landed onto the dirt right next to him.

He was right about the swirling ball. Flinging the dirt away, it was powerful enough to create a crater about a foot in diameter. Even without being in direct contact, a part of his chain-mail was ripped away, leaving behind a hole that exposed his side.

However, that also gave him an opportunity to strike.

Forgetting that he wanted the vessel alive, Hitstapa wheeled around to land his Kataya onto the head.

His opponent backed off, apparently surprised.

Hitstapa's blow landed onto the ground. With a mental command, the Kataya exploded, throwing him and the Nine Tails vessel in opposite direction. The Nathmenid, who had expected the explosion, danced gracefully in the air as before landing onto his feet.

The vessel, on the other hand, landed hard onto his face and rolled off several meters before stopping, his back facing the Nathmenid. He would not see Hitstapa if he attacked.

Hitstapa summoned his Kataya again and charged towards his enemy.

---

With his ears listening to the footsteps on the ground, Naruto made a mental calculation of the distance between himself and his Nathmenid opponent. He focused his chakra onto his palm, and spun the energy into a blue swirling ball.

When he thought that they were close enough, Naruto spun around, his Rasengan shoved to where he thought the demon would be.

There was a loud "bang" when the ball collided with a white beam.

Naruto quickly overcame his surprise as he pushed his enemy back with sudden force, unbalancing him as the Nathmenid tumbled backwards. He took the chance to get back to his feet.

As he looked at his opponent, Naruto smiled. The Nathmenid was far more powerful than any zombie that he encountered, and thus far more interesting to fight against. Though fast, the blonde caught up with him easily with the speed granted by the Kyubi power. He could kick his ass, Naruto was sure of it.

The Nathmenid opponent regained his balance and lunged at Naruto with his Kataya.

Naruto merely sneered as he created another Rasengan. Now that he knew it could block the Nathmenid energy blade, the blonde could use it both defensively and offensively.

With a loud "bang", his Nathmenid opponent hit an invisible barrier between him and Naruto.

Surprised, the blonde turned around to see two dark shapes coming towards them in the forest. They were Mardonius and Atossa.

---

Mardonius almost dropped his jaw as he saw Naruto. Never did he expect him to be able to go through all those Undead to venture out this far into the forest.

He overcame his surprise as he focused on what lay ahead.

Flashing his Kataya, he lunged at the armoured Nathmenid that the blonde was fighting. Putting two and two together, the Energy Control Master could see that this must be the commander of this army, the director of the death and destruction that was being thrown upon the Konoha. If somehow he could put him out of the picture, it would be far more effective than destroying the catapults that were assaulting the village.

His Nathmenid opponent dodged the attack easily. Again, with a loud "bang", he hit another rupture of space-time created by Atossa, who was panting and sweating with a blue glowing ball of energy between her palms beside Mardonius. She was at her limits.

The Nathmenid commander threw his Kataya at them. Evading the attack, Atossa broke her concentration. The energy between her palms dissipated as the spell broke. Before she could recast, her opponent had already turned around and started to retreat.

Naruto let out a scream and lunged towards the armoured Nathmenid.

---

Like a tsunami receding from the shore, the Undead slowly began to flow out of the village through the gates, leaving behind the death and destruction that it had caused.

Gaara tore apart a zombie with the sand hands which he created when he saw his enemies retreating. Standing on the street of sand which he created, the Sand Master suddenly realized how exhausted he was. Immediately, he collapsed onto the sandy ground.

Gaara and Kuri were leaving a store when they were alarmed by the sudden pungent smell in the air, before the Undead attacked. Therefore they were not really surprised by the event. Even with previous experience in dealing with those undying monsters, there was still little they could do to prepare, other than to alert the villagers nearby and escort them to the furthest part of the village to the main gates. It was the safest place, they figured, for the defenceless folk since they never seen the invaders being able to tear down the walls.

They did not take into account of the use of catapults by the Undead.

When the first zombies landed in their area, Gaara and Kuri were very much surprised. While they were dealing with the zombies, which they could only trap with a combination of wind and sand walls, the stones of fire began to appear, lighting buildings, people and Undead alike.

However, for the moment now, it was over.

As Gaara panted, he caught sight of Kuri collapsing onto the sand from the corner of his eye. Whatever made the Undead retreat, they were grateful for it…

---

Mardonius lunged towards Naruto when he saw him going after the retreating Nathmenid general. The former Nine Tails vessel was already far too forward away from the rest of the group, and it would be very dangerous if he went on. Besides, who knew what plans that Matter Master had in store. For all he knew, there might be an ambush waiting for Naruto. Despite the fact that the blonde should be powerful enough to handle any kind of ambush, Mardonius did not want to take the risk.

The Nathmenid caught up with the blonde and grabbed his legs. Surprised by the sudden hold, Naruto tumbled over onto the ground.

Looking up, Mardonius saw that his enemy had disappeared into the darkness of the forest. Then something happened that he did not quite expect.

"You baka!" Naruto turned around, pulled out a kunai and threw it at the Nathmenid.

Surprised, the demon let go and leapt out of the way. However, since he had stopped slowing down time when the enemy started to retreat, the kunai was much too fast for him to dodge completely. A burning pain surged in his side as it buried itself there to the hilt.

Mardonius yelled out in agony as he tumbled onto the ground. He tried to get up, reaching for his side and feeling the sticky black fluid that was his blood, but he was far too tired, and already he was losing a lot of blood.

"MARDONIUS!!!" Atossa's scream was the last thing he heard before the wound and exhaustion took him over in darkness.

---

Naruto stood there as he watched Atossa lunging towards her lover, eyes wide as the bloodlust was pushed away by shock and fear as he registered what he had done.

The blonde looked down at his hands, covered with spots of dirt and dried blood. He could not believe that he had just attacked a friend like that, even though that was a friend he had only known for a couple of days. For a moment he could not remember the reason why he threw that kunai.

Then he remembered. The Nathmenid had stopped him from chasing his enemy, finishing off what he was set out to do: kill. He recalled being angry. He recalled the blood haze that covered his eyes as he reached for his kunai and threw it. He recalled the pleasure that he felt as he fought against his enemies.

That chilled Naruto's heart.

What on earth had he become? Naruto knew that he never was a person who loved bloodshed. In fact, he was the one who was frightened by the blood and the danger of his first battle, way back during his mission in the Wave country. As a shinobi Naruto had to kill, sometimes, but he never enjoyed it like that.

Naruto looked as Atossa began to sob on Mardonius' unconscious body. He staggered back a few steps, and ran right past them as he ran for the village, the only place he could go.


	21. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Sitting on a seat in the waiting room, Atossa waited impatiently, her mind in complete turmoil. Nearby there sat Naruto, his face a twisted worry, and his eyes still carried the same shock that had been there since his kunai struck down Mardonius.

Atossa looked at him with sympathetic eyes. Even though he was the reason why her love was in critical condition, with his lungs and stomach punctured, the she-demon could not blame the blonde. In fact, on hindsight, she realized that she and Mardonius had some responsibility over what happened.

In the Nathmenid tradition, a Nathmenid baby was to have most of its power sealed when it was born. It would be stayed sealed up until the Nathmend reached an age where he had enough life experience, around fifty years old, when the power would be unsealed in a maturity ceremony, which Mardonius had already gone through while Atossa had not. It was done so that the Nathmenid would have the maturity of mind to control the power responsibly, and to resist the temptation to evil that such a tremendous power would give. Even so, each Nathmenid was given a power crystal, a pendant that the demon would hang around the neck for the rest of his or her life, in order to help in control the power that he or she possessed.

"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely" was a fact that all Nathmenids knew all too well, particularly Atossa and Mardonius. After all, it was power that turned their friend Kunbujiya into the monster that was nicknamed the King of the Dead.

For Naruto, though, there was no "fifty years" for him to mature before he was given the power of the Nine Tails, which was huge even by Nathmenid standards. Arm with only about twenty years of life experience, the blonde had to resist the lure of this corrosive power, something which even most mature Nathmenids would find difficult to do without a crystal of power. Therefore it should become no surprise to Atossa that Naruto, for a brief moment, gave into the temptation and the thrill that such power had brought. In fact, it was impressive that the blonde only did what he did.

Had she and Mardonius thought of that part before, they would not have taken out the Nine Tails spirit. Then again, they need Naruto to control the demonic energy without hindrance…

Atossa eyed Naruto, who was twisting and turning in discomfort, sharing the same guilt.

---

Hinata rushed down the corridor of the Konoha hospital, reached for the door on the third right, and pushed.

Just as the reception had told her, Naruto was in the waiting room.

After the Undead retreated, the first thing that Hinata was worried about was Naruto. Knowing that they were after the blonde, Hinata thought that the reason why the Undead left was that they had reached their goal: Naruto was held captive somewhere by some undying monster. Therefore she was very much concerned when the flood of zombies backed off from the village.

Leaving behind the Hyuugas alongside with whom she had been fighting, Hinata rushed to query for Naruto's whereabouts. The first people that came into mind were two Nathmenid demons. However, rushing through all those people in the streets, who were starting to clear up, she could not find Mardonius and Atossa anywhere.

Then, by chance, she was at the Konoha main gates when the two entered the village.

Hinata was very much surprised by what she saw. Rather than standing and towering over most people, Mardonius was unconscious and was held up by his girlfriend, who was also holding a bloody wound at his side. It was a strange sight: a petite girl holding up the lifeless body of a giant of a man. Yet Atossa showed no exhaustion at all. Rather, the only thing that was written on her face was fright and worry.

Very quickly, Atossa told Hinata what happened. Hinata was totally shocked when she heard that Naruto had injured Mardonius so. Then she recalled the time just before the blonde disappeared into the crowds of Undead. She remembered the blood-thirsty look in his eyes.

That was not the Naruto she knew.

They rushed the unconscious Mardonius to the Konoha hospital. They were greeted by complete chaos. Medic-nins and nurses rushed everywhere as more and more injured ninjas were rushed in. The smell of blood and burnt flesh filled the air. The moans of the dying completed the apocalyptic picture.

Fortunately, they managed to locate Shizune, who was directing patients here and there, trying to bring some order back. Classifying Mardonius as "critical but treatable", she quickly sent him to the third floor, where Tsunade and Sakura were treating such patients.

As Atossa went with the bed holding her lover to the elevator, Hinata was pulled back by Shizune, who needed her hand in directing the patients. She was to classify them into three categories. The "mild" ones were those with flesh wounds and could wait. They were to be sent to the third floor. The "critical but treatable" ones were like Mardonius, who had treatable wounds but require instant attention. They were to be sent to the second floor to be taken cared of by the Hokage herself and her apprentice. The last were the "untreatable" ones, who were so seriously wounded that there was nothing that could be done. Those were sent to the ground floor where they would be left to die.

Basically, Hinata had to be a judge, deciding on who should live and who should die.

It was an unpleasant task, especially when she had to send people she knew to the ground floor. Several Hyuuga were dying when they arrived. Hinata sent them to the ground floor. It was hardest when Shino came in with hideous injuries that forced Hinata to categorise him as "untreatable". Hinata felt as if she had executed her former team-mate.

Hinata did the same thing, over and over again, for the whole day, until she was sick of it, sick of being the judge, sick of condemning those she knew and loved. She felt ashamed, guilty of murder.

Shizune felt that she had done enough, and thus freed her of her duties.

Hence Hinata continued her search for Naruto, hoping that he was not captured by the Undead already. It did not take very long, however, since Naruto had come into the hospital as well to check on Mardonius, and was in the waiting room.

That was where Hinata found him now.

Sorrow, regret, worry, her Byakugan eyes could see all that in Naruto's blue ones. Just as it had been hard on Hinata, it had been hard for Naruto was well. Even though she still had no idea why the blonde went berserk like that back then, Hinata could only feel his pain, the same guilt that she carried as they hurt their friends. She knew that he was no cold-blooded murderer. Something must have made him to be like that.

Naruto stood up as Hinata approached, her mind a turmoil as she walked up to him. As their eyes stared at each other, Hinata felt something inside her heart about to burst. Her cauldron of emotions: guilt, fear, shame, passion… suppressed feelings that she did not even know were there, exploded all at once.

"Na… Naruto-kun…"

She wrapped her arms around Naruto and buried her face on his shoulder in tears.

---

Naruto widened his eyes with surprise.

Never in his life had he ever been held by anyone like that. Back in his childhood days, no one would ever possibly imagine being held by the vessel of the Kyubi. Everyone hated him so much that it was not even possible to be approach anyone without spite, let alone being held. Naruto had been held once in his life, and it was part of Jiraiya's "maturity training". However, Naruto realized, being held by prostitutes who did that for money was not exactly the same thing as being hugged by someone who just wanted to hug him. To him, it was a completely new sensation; reminding him of the love that he received from those he considered to be important to him: Sakura, Sasuke, Iruka… only this was far more intimate.

Naruto did not know what Hinata had been going through, and yet he knew that the battle, which was a marginal victory for the Konoha, had been hard on her as well. His eyes softened as he held the black-haired girl close. He would be a comfort to her, if that was what she needed.

He suddenly remembered that Hinata was one of those people who had seen him going berserk back then, and Naruto was caught in a sudden fear; fear that Hinata would abandon him, afraid of him, just like the other villagers used to fear him a lifetime ago.

"Hinata…" without knowing what to say, Naruto began. "I'm… sorry. I… I didn't mean to…"

He gave her a slight pat on the back of her head when the door burst open, and a very red-faced Hokage entered.

"Hokage-sama?" Naruto said. That made Hinata looked up.

"_Kunka_-Tsunade!" Atossa called out as she bounced up from her seat. "How's Mardonius? Is he…?"

Tsunade panted a few times to catch her breath. Naruto held his breath as he waited for the answer. He would hate to hear that Mardonius had perished, for he would blame himself for the rest of his life.

However, he hated the anticipation more.

"He's… he's fine," she replied. "We knew little about Nathmenid anatomy, but it seems that he is recovering. He has regained conscious."

The room literally exploded.

Naruto suddenly felt lightened as he began to breathe again, as if he had unloaded a heavy load in his heart. He found himself smiling at Hinata.

Atossa's reaction was far more extreme.

"HURAAAY!!!!" she flung her arms around the Hokage. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you…" she said as she kept pecking on Tsunade's cheek.

"Hey, cut it off!" the Hokage pushed the Nathmenid roughly away. "I've got other patients to treat, damn it!"

"Can… can we see him?" Naruto's voice was still shaky.

"He's at room 212," replied the Hokage. "Don't linger there long. He needs rest!" With that final note, she ran through the door and was gone.

"Did you hear that? Mardonius's all right!" Atossa literally screamed as she hugged Naruto and Hinata. "Come on, let's go! Room 212, here we go!"

---

Lying on his back and wings, Mardonius felt a dull ache at his side.

It was lucky that the bed was soft, or else his pair of wings would give him a hard time. Having nothing else to distract him, he let his thoughts drift. Inevitably, the first thing that came into mind was the battle just then.

The battle was tough, that was expected. After all, the Konoha was so outnumbered that it would have been little more than an ant standing on the way of a giant. On top of that, the Undead were quite resilient to die, or to put it more properly, de-animated. It was a miracle that Konoha could hold up at all, and not crushed by the Undead soldiers of Kunbujiya in mere seconds.

It was not due to him or Atossa, Mardonius knew that very well. After wasting most of their power in the forest, the Nathmenid couple were at their weakest. Mardonius could not even conjure and control one Kataya from a distance. Hell, he could not even dodge a kunai, which was the reason why he was lying here. It was rather embarrassing.

However, resting here could allow him to rejuvenate some of his power. That would mean that the next time the Undead struck, and Mardonius was sure there would be a next time, he would not end up in such a sorry state.

Still, the Nathmenid could not help but to give credit to the Konoha shinobi soldiers, towards whom he gave his respects to. It was them who held up against enemies that outnumbered them by at least a thousand to one which gave a chance for Mardonius and Atossa to, by chance, have a strike against the Undead commander.

His mind quickly drifted to Naruto as he thought about the Nathmenid general. He recalled the bloodlust that was in his blue eyes before he reach for his kunai. As a Nathmenid, Mardonius recognized that to be a sign that the blonde was being corrupted by demonic power. On hindsight, he could not blame him. After all, like Atossa, he knew what power could do to people, especially when one had the maturity worth less than twenty years of life experience. Maybe removing the Kyubi spirit was not such a good idea, after all.

It was about then the sound of a door opening broke his reverie.


	22. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Mardonius recognized their faces immediately.

"MARDONIUS!!" Atossa let out her characteristic squeal as she lunged towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Mardonius let out a low moan as he felt a sharp pain on his wound, though that did not quench out the warm and passionate joy of having his girl at his side again.

"Atossa," he managed a smile as he hugged back. "I'm sorry. You must have been worried." With that, he pushed himself up and kissed her lips. Nothing more was needed to be said.

Then they realized that they apparently had forgotten that there were other people in the room. As they let go, Mardonius turned to the rest of the visitors. Hinata was blushing red, while Naruto's eyes were bulging.

"What?" Atossa asked, and Mardonius let out a small sigh. She would never understand this kind of thing.

There was an embarrassing silence.

"Er… Mardonius," Naruto said. "I'm… I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" the demon was surprised. "For what?"

"Well…" Naruto shifted uncomfortably on his feet and pointed to the demon's bandaged wound. "I… did this to you."

Oh, that.

He waved his hand. "Meh, that was just a flesh wound," he said. "Besides, even greater people, or demons, than you have succumbed to the lure of power. There's nothing to be ashamed of, or to be forgiven.

"In fact," Mardonius sat up. "I'm the one who's supposed to apologize. Had I thought of the lure of power, which I should…"

"What are you talking about?" Hinata asked, completely lost in the conversation. Atossa gave her a little smile and shook her head.

"You won't understand, Hinata," she replied. "Good thing, too."

"Let's just say, Hinata," Mardonius said, noticing the offended look on Hinata's face. "You are lucky that you don't have the burden of power to bear."

At that, Naruto could only let out a small smile.

---

Despite what happened, Mardonius had forgiven him.

Yet even armed with that knowledge, Naruto still could not defeat the heavy guilt. In fact, it seemed to have grown even heavier, as if the fact that he was forgiven added more weight to the heaviness in his heart. The blonde felt more ashamed of what he had done, in the light of the kindness that the Nathmenid demon had given him.

"Power was a burden." Naruto began to understand what those words meant. Nothing in the world could compare with the pleasure power brought, but it was also so easy to become lost in that pleasure, and become so enslaved that he became blind to the consequences and sufferings of others. Out of a sudden, Naruto felt pity for the demon that he once hosted. Was that the reason why the Kyubi loved destruction so much? Because he had been so much controlled by his tremendous power?

There was only one thing Naruto could do, one thing that might help him to ease his pain.

He vowed to himself: never to use the Kyubi power again

---

Kabuto smirked as his army of Undead marched through the forest. His zombies corrupted every inch of land they touched, turning it into an ashy grey heap. Grass drooped down and died, and trees lost all their leaves, leaving behind empty wooden carcasses that trailed the every move of the unholy legion.

The wraith turned around to sneak a peak at the other commanders of the army, the only living beings within the entire invasion force. He paid extra attention to the winged and horned human that was riding on a skeletal horse amongst the other members of the Five Royal Wraiths. Dressed in the black armour of a Nathmenid royal commander, the human had long, black hair, with two long fringes and almost covered his cold black eyes.

Other than his new attire of clothing and his wings and horns, Uchiha Sasuke did not changed much for the past two years.

Kunbujiya had promised them great power when he tried to recruit the Uchiha and the Hyuuga clans to serve him. The King of the Dead claimed that he knew about the secret potential that lay within the clans, a secret power that would overshadow anything else in the human lands if re-awoken. Forsaking their allegiance to the Konoha and the human race, the Uchiha took the bait, while the Hyuuga simply refused the offer, forsaking their own demonic heritage. Hence for the wraith who would later possess Kabuto, the Hyuuga were the traitors to their kind, while the Uchiha were worthy of the demonic blood that gave them their bloodline limit.

Despite that, the Uchiha failed in their first capture of the Kyubi, which resulted in the Kyubi attack on the Konoha eighteen years ago when they summoned the youma. The Uchiha were allowed a second chance, though the clan did not manage to carry out its second conspiracy against Konoha and mankind.

When the Uchiha clan was betrayed and destroyed by one of its own, Kunbujiya ordered his spy to seek out the last of the worthy Uchiha, the young Uchiha Sasuke. Even though Kabuto already knew enough about the human lands to help, he was not a proper Leaf ninja- and the King of the Dead needed one to serve him as another insider for the Leaf, since the Kyubi vessel was a Leaf nin. On top of being a former Leaf nin himself, Sasuke also knew the Kyubi vessel, the one known as Uzumaki Naruto. There was no better candidate to serve King Kunbujiya as a second human spy.

Besides, Kunbujiya promised the Uchiha that he would awake their demonic powers. If anything, the King of the Dead always kept his promises, quite unlike King Darayavash, his predecessor to the Nathmenid throne, which was the reason why Kabuto and quite a few others were so loyal to him.

Now, just like Kabuto, Sasuke was commissioned to be one of the Nathmenid generals of the invasion force, allowing him to utilize his knowledge about the human lands to serve the King's interests.

---

Uchiha Sasuke could see that Kabuto the wraith was looking at him, but he paid little interest as he focused on organizing his army with his mind.

When he learnt that the Uchiha was responsible for the Kyubi massacre on Konoha, Sasuke felt only slightly surprised. After all, he knew that there had to be a reason for his brother's betrayal and slaughter of the clan, though he did not quite expect the Uchiha to be quite so treacherous. With that knowledge, he had a bit of understanding for Uchiha Itachi.

That did not mean that he could forgive him, however.

Sasuke was quite surprised to find that his thirst for vengeance did not quench, not even a tiny drop, even when he knew that his brother slaughtered his clan for noble reasons. It was then he realized that vengeance was now his life, his only reason for living. Hatred was his soul, his entire being. There was no way that he could let it go, not without losing his entire self in the end.

Despite that, though, he had no desire to serve the King of the Dead. If anything, King Kunbujiya was the reason why Itachi had to slaughter the Uchiha. Without the Nathmenid king desiring for the Kyubi power, the Uchiha would not attempt to seize on the youma, and Itachi would not have to slaughter the whole clan in order to prevent them from trying again. Supposedly, Sasuke had more reason to hate Kunbujiya than to hate his brother.

Yet it was Itachi who killed his parents. It was Itachi who used Tsukuyomi on him, attacking him mentally as he repeated images and the pain of the slaughter with his two hypnotic eyes. Sasuke could not forget that, could not forget that taunt, "You are weak… because you lack hatred." Somehow, Kunbujiya's link to the events was far too indirect for Sasuke to hate him.

Therefore when King Kunbujiya told him that the invasion army would encounter Itachi, who was part of the group that was opposing him, Sasuke could not resist but to accept the position of the General of the Northern Force, the first human ever to accept general-ship in the history of the Nathmenids.

With his demonic powers awoken, Sasuke found it quite easy to direct his Undead army with his mind, a feat that would be impossible to a normal human being. As the highest commander of the Northern Force, Sasuke was responsible for invading and destroying the Stone, paving the way open for the Undead to the Leaf.

That was exactly what Sasuke did.

Power, excitement, the sense of adrenaline coursed through his body as his unholy soldiers tore through line after line of shinobis and peasants, men and women, young and old, like a demonic army from hell that swept through the entire hidden village, destroyed all that lay upon its way. It was wild. It was _fun_.

Yet for Sasuke, it was still unsatisfactory.

When his army marched away from the ruins of the Stone and towards the meeting point with the Wraiths' army, Sasuke began to realize that he would find no pleasure, find no joy, until he had quenched his hatred in his brother's blood.

As now the united forces of his and Kabuto's army marched towards the Konoha, Sasuke could not wait to meeting his brother again.

---

Itachi and Kakashi stood at the top of the cliff, their hands raised to their foreheads to shield their eyes from the rising sun. Not far into the horizon, a patch of greenery stood. Using their Sharingan eyes, they could only faintly make out the trail of dead trees that marked the movements of the Undead army, but only just. It was times like this that they wished that they had the Byakugan instead, which would allow them to see far away places. Kakashi sneaked a peak at his partner for this scouting mission.

He never expected himself to end up working with an S-class criminal when he accepted the mission of investigating the Akatsuki organization. Even with Jiraiya's leads, little was known about this mysterious band. In fact, the only thing that was known about this organization with the name "Dawn" was that it consisted of nine S-class criminals- the most dangerous criminals noted in the Konoha Bingo Book, and that warranted a closer inspection.

Hence Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja of a Thousand Jutsus, was sent to investigate the Akatsuki. A genius jounin with the Sharingan, no other jounin was a better candidate for this dangerous mission than him.

As he investigated further and further, though, Kakashi found more questions than answers. Who was that winged woman who seemed to be the leader? Who was this "King Kunbujiya", whom all members seemed to be determined "to stop"? What were they talking about when they said "the betrayal of the Uchiha"?

Then something happened that changed all that.

It was just like always, with Kakashi tailing two of Akatsuki members, the one with blonde hair and the huge one who seemed to be at least partly mechanics, to their meeting place, where the jounin would use his Sharingan eye to lip-read what they were saying in the distance. As they walked through the forest, Kakashi never realized that he was walking into a trap.

Then suddenly Kakashi felt a sharp pain on his head. When he turned around, he found that he was being attacked by several branches, broken off from the trees and floating in the mid-air like bats being swung by invisible hands. They all went for him, swinging themselves towards his head. Kakashi tried to dodge, but then he found his feet being stuck onto the ground. When he looked down, the jounin found that the dirt had snaked up his feet and buried them into the ground. Normally, the jounin would have pulled his legs out and escape, but that had delayed him enough for him to be hit by one of those wooden missiles, and he went out cold instantly.

When he woke up, Kakashi found himself to be inside a tent. Somehow, he figured, the Akatsuki had brought him there. Yet he was unbound and ungagged, either a sign that he was not a prisoner, or the Akatsuki were so confident that they knew that Kakashi could not escape. Either way, the jounin decided to attempt one.

The jounin rushed out of the tent, only to be greeted by the sight of more winged people, in full black plate armour and armed with spears and swords. Kakashi tried to fight his way out, and found that his opponents were not as powerful as they look, for they only knew how to thrust their spears at him. Kakashi would have succeeded had it not been for the Akatsuki leader, who somehow summoned energetic chains which bound him to the ground.

Taken back to his prison-tent, with reluctance Kakashi received a full explanation. Between then and when Itachi returned with "the Undead have made their move", the jounin learned everything that he was sent to learn, and discovered with surprise that this "Honsei Akatsuki" had a good, if not noble, purpose, noble enough that had it not include some of the most notorious criminals in history, Kakashi would join it instantly.

That was the reason why the jounin was working with Itachi now.

"Kakashi," the Sharingan master broke his revere. Even now, Kakashi still found it hard to trust the Uchiha. "We've seen enough. Let's go back."

With a nod, Kakashi and his partner turned around and left.


	23. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

It was rather quiet as Naruto and his two Nathmenid friends walked down the streets of Konoha. Everywhere their eyes could see, there was carnage of some sort. Most of the windows were shattered, the rooms behind them abandoned. Walls, burnt black and splattered with red patches of blood, stood where homes once were. Several buildings were still on fire, their flames crying out the dismay of death and destruction.

After a night of rest, Mardonius had recovered enough to leave bed. Even with a heavy bandage on his wounded side, the demon insisted on leaving the hospital and surveying the aftermath of the battle. Naruto could not argue otherwise. Atossa, like always, tagged along her lover, her scanty clothing catching a couple of stares from the few people that were around.

Mardonius felt a weight in his heart as he looked at the carnage. He imagined all the lives that were destroyed, all the fathers and mothers that were lost, lovers and friends who were forever torn apart, all because of one demon's desire to achieve great power. "This," the Nathmenid made a mental note, "is what happens when one gives in to the lure of power."

Yet he could not blame him, could not blame Kunbujiya, his former friend now turned enemy. He was partly at fault for his friend's fall. He sneaked a peak at Atossa, and let out a small sigh. "If anything," Mardonius thought to himself, "I am partly responsible for all this…"

---

_The young, child-like face of Kunbujiya was completely filled with shock as his red eyes stared at the two young Nathmenids before him._

_"What… what did you say, Atossa?" he asked, his voice trembling._

_"I… I love Mardonius," repeated the she-demon as she hugged Mardonius' arm. "I like you, but I just want us to be friends."_

_Mardonius' heart ached as he saw tears gathering in his friend's eyes. "Kunbujiya, I…"_

_"No, Mardonius," Kunbujiya snapped, blinking his tears away, replacing them with a newfound fire- a furious flame of hate. _

_Then Kunbujiya turned around and let out a laugh, a cold laugh. "So it has always been like this, isn't it?" he said. "Mardonius, the great genius who has everything, and me, Kunbujiya the poor, poor bastard of the forsaken Datunya!"_

_"Please, Kunbujiya," Mardonius said as he reached out for his friend, his heart feeling a great chill at the hatred that was brewing. "I only want to help. I did not mean to hurt…"_

_His friend, however, only snapped his hand off. "Keep your pitiful words in your mouth, Mardonius," Kunbujiya said. "I don't need you to pity me. I've been alone in the past, and I shall return to that state once again."_

_The demon looked back, glaring at Mardonius with a look so full of hate, so filled with sorrow that Mardonius would remember it even twenty years later. "Get out of my sight, Mardonius."_

---

Mardonius clutched his chest where the guilt flared. It was him who pushed his friend into the depths of darkness and evil. It was him who developed the _Dunsotahaea Kaunhoea kunjodotaea_, Spell of Raising Dead, which allowed his friend to achieve such devastating power and cause such destruction. How he wished that he could turn back the time and undo all the damage he caused!

"Hi there!"

The Nathmenid startled a little, as he saw three Konoha shinobis standing in front of him and his little group. Mardonius recognized them from the battle council: Gai, Anko and Hiashi.

"Greetings," Mardonius clutched his fist on his chest and bowed.

Hiashi nodded. "You lot on patrol as well? I don't remember seeing your names on the schedule book."

"Well…" Naruto looked at Mardonius. "Not exactly."

The Hyuuga leader frowned. "Best not linger out in the streets for too long. The Undead will return in anytime." He pointed at the bandages on Mardonius. "I know that you're powerful but you still need to recover from that."

"I understand," Mardonius replied. "My thanks for your concern."

The patrol nodded as he gestured to his companions to go.

"I'm hungry," Naruto said. "Let's get a bite to eat. The ramen store is over at that corner."

"Ramen…?" Atossa crossed her eyes in puzzlement as they all went for the store.

---

Tsunade paced around the Hokage office, her face twisting with impatience.

It had been a quite a while since she had asked for an update on the logistics. It was vital for her to learn about the current state of the village after a battle of such a scale. The village had suffered great damages, and Tsunade knew that. All she wanted to know was the true extent of it.

A sudden hush of the paper-and-wooden door opening lifted her spirits instantly. The Hokage turned around and, as expected, saw the pretty face of Shizune- the one whom she had been waiting for.

"Report, Tsunade-sama," the Hokage assistant handed out a scroll. Tsunade literally snatched it off her hands and unraveled it.

She bit her bottom lip as she read. It was exactly as she feared.

"Out of five thousand shinobis, two thousand now lie dead or critically injured," she repeated from what was written. "Over half the village was burnt down. Half of the villagers are dead."

With the Undead still at their doorsteps, it would be very likely that they would be attacked again, and most likely in the same scale as well. If that happened, there would be no chance at all for Konoha to survive at all.

"Tsunade-sama!" a ninja entered the room. "The Elders wishes to speak to you. They are waiting in the lounge room."

Tsunade gave a small sigh. What did those old fossils want?

"I'll be on my way," she replied.

---

The Elders of the village consisted of the five oldest former shinobis of the Leaf, and supposedly the wisest. Thus they were the most respected, and the most influential. Even the Hokage herself had to pay her regards to their advices, even when technically speaking she was above them. Yet Tsunade found them to be a bit short-sighted at times, not being able to see long into the future.

Still, throughout her reign, Tsunade had to deal with them a couple of times when they believed her decisions to be unsatisfactory, for she knew that they could pull her out of office if they wanted it to be done. Most of the time, they allowed her to take control. A couple of times, they got so frustratingly stubborn that Tsunade wondered how Sarutobi, the Hokage before her, could get anything done at all.

Hence she kept the fact that the Undead were after Naruto from them. She was pretty sure that they would sacrifice Naruto for the sake of the village.

When she reached the lounge room, the Hokage noticed that one of the two sofas was occupied. Sitting there were two elderly, a man and a woman. Tsunade groaned silently to herself. They were the Arisuka couple, well known for their stubbornness.

However, she had to force herself to smile. "Greetings, Hiromi-sama, Miruki-sama."

The old lady snorted. "Let the greetings slide, Hokage-sama," she said. "We're here because we believe that you had been hiding information from us."

"Really?" Tsunade made her voice sound as innocent as possible.

"You may quit faking it, Tsunade," Miruki said, not even addressing to his superior properly. "We know about Naruto."

Tsunade almost jumped with surprise. How on Earth did they found out?

"You cannot keep secrets away from the Elders," Hiromi smiled a sly smile. "Not for long, anyway. One of our ninjas just overheard a conversation you had with Naruto and his… 'friends'. That's all."

"What do you suggest then?" the Hokage, though she already knew the answer, asked.

"Hand over the Kyubi vessel," replied Miruki. "And save this village from those monsters."

"You know why I cannot do that!" Tsuande widened her eyes. "It is thanks to him that this village is saved."

"Saved? You call this 'saved'?" Hiromi asked. "Half the village wrecked, and about fifty percent of our troops wounded or killed. I won't call that a 'save', if you ask me."

Tsunade could not respond to that.

"You know the truth, Tsunade," Miruki said. "The village would not survive another attack, with or without Naruto. Giving him up would give the village a better chance."

"Report!" a loud voice cried as a shinobi rushed through the door. "More Undead has been spotted marching through the northern border, Hokage-sama."

"See what I mean?" Miruki waved his hands at the messenger. "Now that the village will be even less likely to survive the second wave. You want the whole village to die for this… boy?"

Tsunade bit her bottom lip as she stared at the ninja, as if he was an executioner sentencing her favourite child to his doom. She knew that, at this point, there was nothing she could do but to give in.

"Acknowledged, good man," Tsunade said, her eyes glittering in tears. "Send for Shizune, and ask her to call for a war conference. I have an… announcement to make."

"Understood," the ninja bowed as left the room, leaving his Hokage behind, who was biting her bottom lip.

---

Naruto sat and patted his full stomach in satisfaction as he finished his fifth bowl of ramen. He looked around his favourite store. He felt another surge of relief as he saw that the Ichiraku Ramen store had escaped from the devastation of the Undead.

Even though with the enemy at the Konoha's doorstep, the store owner of Ichiraku insisted on business as usual. After all, even people in the state of war need food. Also, the Hokage still had not issued an order of food rationing yet, so there was still legal for him to open his business.

Sitting next to the blonde were his Nathmenid friends. It was funny to see Mardonius squeezing himself onto his seat so that he would not elbow Atossa, since the place was designed for people (or demons, for that matter) with smaller bodies. Several eyes stared at Atossa, some with disapproval, though the Nathmenid did not seem to care.

Even now Atossa and Mardonius were still struggling to use chopsticks, which apparently they had trouble with. Mardonius frowned as he tried to hold his in the right way, while Atossa was using hers by holding one in each hand, the noodles slipping in between the wooden sticks. Naruto had tried to instruct them, and then gave up in frustration, as they seem to have hands that resisted using chopsticks. Hence their bowls were still practically untouched, despite the fact that they had long gone cold. Naruto could not help but to let out a little snicker: who would have thought that those two, who possessed enough power to destroy entire villages, would have trouble handling two small pieces of wood?

Naruto smiled even more when he remembered that they were supposed to have been living in the "Ninja Lands" for the past ten years. Mardonius told him that they never really entered any of the hidden villages, and they lived on forest fruits and game. That was reasonable, since Naruto saw that even the Ichiraku store owner, who was one of the most tolerant of the villagers, was intimidated by the sight of Mardonius as he served the Nathmenids. The blonde then remembered that he, too, trembled when he first met Mardonius in real life, even when he had seen him before when he was resealing the Kyubi. What kind of power could allow the Nathmenid such dominating aura?

Out of a sudden, someone placed a hand on his shoulder.

The blonde turned around, and saw the face of Neji.

Mardonius and Atossa looked up from their bowl of ramen.

"The Hokage wants to see you, Naruto," the white-eyed man said. "Now."

"Okay, um, sure," Naruto replied. "Er… guys, keep on trying. I'll be right back."

Mardonius and Atossa looked at him with red eyes filled with puzzlement as he was led away.

---

"Okay, so what is this about?" Naruto asked.

He had expected to meet the Hokage in the Hokage office, or at least in some gambling center where the blonde knew Tsunade loved to hang out. Neji led him to neither of those places. Instead, they were standing in a narrow alley, where the darkness almost overshadowed Neji's Byakugan eyes.

Neji turned around, a strange expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," he said. "This is for the sake of the village."

That was the last thing Naruto heard as Neji suddenly dashed behind him, striking the neck at the bottom of the blonde's skull. Naruto collapsed into a heap.


	24. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Hinata let out a sigh as the Ichiraku Ramen store appeared from around the corner. It would be a relief to have a ramen meal with Naruto and the others once again.

For the entire day, Hinata had been fulfilling her tasks, assigned by the Hokage. The hunter-nin could not believe how much she had to do for the past few hours. It was strange that she had to fulfill ten missions in just one morning, which was a workload way beyond that even for a lone jounin. Some of them were mundane missions, like saving a cat from a tree, which Hinata thought should be assigned to rookie genins. However, given that so most of the shinobis who died in that battle were genins, Hinata thought that it was reasonable that now a jounin had to do their jobs.

Still, that did not change the fact that an entire morning of work had tired her out.

As she approached the ramen store, Hinata noticed the bat-like wings on two figures' backs, one of them a lot bigger than the other, making them stand out from the other customers. However, as she walked closer, she could see that there was no sign of a blonde man with them.

"_Ka Niki_, Hinata," Mardonius turned around and clutched his fist on his chest in a Nathmenid greeting. "Have a seat." He gestured to an empty seat next to Atossa.

"Thanks," Hinata muttered as she took the seat. "Where's Naruto? I thought that he would be here in this time of the day."

"We came here with him," replied Atossa. "But someone with white eyes took him away. White eyes like yours. Said that the Hokage wants him. He hasn't been back since."

"White eyes like mine?" Hinata was at first puzzled, then she realized that she meant Byakugan.

But then, why would the Hokage want Naruto all of a sudden?

"Order?" the old man at the counter asked.

"Oh," Hinata dropped her revere when she realized that he was talking to her. "Um… meat ramen, please."

As the shop owner turned around to get her order, Hinata thought back to Naruto and shrugged. The Hokage surely had her reasons to need Naruto…

---

"What are we doing here?" asked Gai, but the bearded Asuma just kept on smoking his cigarette.

He was standing inside the Hokage office, empty save for the two jounins and a table overflowing papers. There was no sign of their superior who had summoned them there, and it had been three hours since the two arrived as ordered.

Gai recalled the time when he received the order to go to the Hokage office at once. He was on patrol in the streets, when out of a sudden a masked shinobi- an ANBU, judging from the mask design, appeared in a wisp of smoke and whispered the order into his ear. The jounin could not figure out the reason for the secrecy, since the Undead were well outside the Konoha walls and there was no evidence to show that there had been spies inside the village. Mardonius and Atossa might be demons, but they seemed to be trustworthy, and weren't they the ones who had protected Naruto from the clutches of the enemy for the past three days?

Secret or not, however, orders were orders, and there was nothing to do but to obey.

When he reached his destination, he found that Asuma, the sensei for Team Ten, was already there. He told him that he received the same order in the same manner, and the smoker also found all those secrecy a little bit strange, as if the Hokage did not want anyone to know what was going on.

Hence Gai was left with Asuma, and paced around the room impatiently, waiting for his superior to arrive.

And arrived she did.

The paper-and-wooden door slid to a side with a whoosh, and the shapely form of Tsunade appeared. Following her were Kurenai, biting her bottom lip and looking onto the ground, and Hiashi, whose shoulder was carrying the limp form of Naruto.

Gai almost dropped his jaw and the Hyuuga slid his load onto the floor.

"What… what the hell is going on?"

"This, apparently, is the solution that the Elders want us to take," Hiashi curtly replied.

"Solution?" Asuma asked.

Hiashi bit his bottom lip and pointed at the unconscious blonde. "This is what the Undead are after, Asuma."

Asuma opened his mouth in shock. "You can't possibly mean that…"

"Yes," Hiashi replied bitterly. "We're going to offer Naruto to the Undead, and make a truce."

---

Under the guidance of Hinata, Mardonius and Atossa finally untangled their fingers around their chopsticks and managed to finish their respective meals. As they settled down their utensils, the three were ready to go., as soon as Naruto returned

It was already long into the afternoon, and most of the customers that were in the store for lunch were long gone, leaving the trio behind alone, while the store owner and his lady assistant cleaned up the messes to prepare for the next wave of people coming for dinner. The store was very much completely quiet, quite a contrast to the chaos before.

"So quiet," Mardonius thought as he stared at the empty seats. "It is hard to believe that there is an army waiting to slaughter everyone outside the gates."

A voice broke his revere.

"This… this isn't right," Atossa said.

"Be patient, lovely Atossa," Mardonius replied, knowing his girlfriend's reckless tendency. "Perhaps _Kunka_-Tsunade is taking her time."

Atossa smiled. "I hope so, Mardonius," she said.

That said, Mardonius could not help wondering what had happened to the former vessel of the Nine Tails. He knew that it was normal for the Hokage to summon her shinobis. It was not up to him to even attempt to find out what she really was up to, as he was not, technically speaking, a villager of the Leaf. It just happened that he had to help the village as well in order to stop Kunbujiya from reaching the Nine Tails energy.

It was then someone from the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was a giant man with white hair. Mardonius grinned as Jiraiya rushed towards him. His grin disappeared when he noticed the grim expression written on his friend's face.

"Jiraiya, what's troubling you?"

"Mar… Mardonius," Jiraiya panted. "Tsunade wants to give Naruto to the Undead!"

That news shook the trio like thunder. Mardonius felt as if he was struck by lightning.

"What… what did you say?"

---

Holding a white banner of truce, Kurenai bit her bottom lip as she walked down an invisible route in shadow of the trees.

Her red eyes looked around, and saw the others of the so-called Diplomatic Team. Tsunade was looking around, avoiding any eye-contact with anyone. Asuma sneaked glares to Hiashi, who was the only one with an impassive face. Even Gai, usually the noisiest, was not talking.

Naruto, all tied up in a bundle, was carried by Gai. The green beast of Konoha kept on trying to shift his weight around, as if he was trying to forget what he was carrying. However, no matter how hard he tried to avoid it, he could still feel that weight on his shoulder.

Just like the weight that Kurenai felt in her heart.

It was a direct violation of what they believed in, of the values and morals that the Forth Hokage had taught them. "Those who fail the mission are called trash, but those who don't care for their comrades are lower than trash." Such morals had been completely thrown out of the window. Kurenai knew very well that under the current circumstances, they had little choice. It was either Naruto or the survival of the village, and obviously they had to take the latter. Still, it did little to ease the guilt.

She half-wished that they would meet the Undead as soon as possible, and end this quickly.

---

Hiashi may be hiding it, but it did not in any way alter the pity for that orange burden that Asuma was carrying.

Not many knew it, but actually the Hyuuga clan never hated the Kyubi vessel as much as the other villagers. With a secret demonic ancestry, they all felt pity for the young blonde, for they knew that what he suffered would be their own fate had their secret went out. While the Hyuugas regarded Naruto was a reminder of why they kept their secret, at the same time they could not help but to empathize with him.

Hence Hiashi never hated the Kyubi vessel. In fact, the Hyuuga leader had a deep respect for Naruto even since the blonde defeated Neji in the third part of that Chunnin exam. It was one thing to have the Kyubi sealed inside; it was quite another to be able to use it. Besides, in the end it was not as much as the Kyubi power that allowed Naruto to win. It was the clever use of Kage Bunshin that tricked Neji into lowering his defense. Hiashi had a deep respect for those who were powerful, especially when they reached that level from being "dead last".

When he banished Hinata from the clan, Hiashi had no idea that his daughter did what she did because of her love for Naruto. Thinking back, Hinata might not have known it as well. However, when he realized it, the deed was already done: he had already announced Hanabi to be his new successor, and there was no return from that point.

Still, even though Naruto was respectable, his surname was still Uzumaki, and that meant that he could never be allowed to marry into the Hyuuga, especially not the heir.

It seemed taking forever as they walked, but Hiashi began to notice strange things. The soil on the ground somehow had turned from brown to ashy grey. He was forced to shut his Byakugan eyes at a sudden brightness, only to realize that somehow the leaves above him were gone, leaving behind bare branches that did nothing to shield them from the sun.

It was then his nose picked up a scent of rot, the stink of death and decay. The others seemed to have detected it as well, for Asuma and Tsunade covered their noses.

Then he saw them. Staggering, half-rotting creatures limped towards them. Even though he had encountered them before, Hiashi could not help but to notice the shinobi headbands on some of the varying parts of their bodies. Some of them were Sand, while others Leaf. They all reminded the Hyuuga that these were once men and women at arms against this horde of death, and became consumed as the wave of destruction swept them.

A sudden chill enveloped his heart as five black shadows emerged from the mass. Dressed in black armour, they resembled humans with long, spidery fingers with sharp nails, large, bat-like wings on their backs, and horns on their foreheads. Hiashi could almost see the dread and fear rolling off their bodies, like a black form of the chilling mists rolling off ice cubes. The foremost one, the one with glasses, had a Sound headband with a dash in the middle on his forehead.

Tsunade let out a gasp. "Ka… Kabuto?"

"I'm glad that you recognized me, Tsunade," Kabuto sneered. "I thought that your mortal mind would be too fragile to remember.

"And you, Hyuuga," the double-crosser eyed him with a fury in his red, glowing eyes. He stared for a moment, then asked, "What business do you have?"

"We wish to ask for a truce," Tsunade said.

Gai placed the unconscious Naruto onto the ground, gently despite the fury that was written on his face. "We bought the Kyubi power here. You get what you want, and we want you to leave the village alone."

---

Kabuto was a bit surprised by the Hokage's words. For a moment, he thought that the Hokage was joking. Then he saw the determination in her eyes and knew that she was serious.

The wraith never expected the Leaf to give up so easily. He had expected more fun, in slaughtering the shinobis before they came crawling on their knees, begging for mercy. He knew that Hitstapa had his fun, now it was his turn.

He suddenly found himself disgusted by the Hokage.

She was supposed to fight back! She was supposed to try resisting his army of death as it swept across the Konoha. She was supposed to be begging for mercy bruised and hurt, not before the game began!

Besides, the Hyuuga was to be destroyed.

If he was to attack, now would be a good chance.

Kabuto gave a mental command one of his soldiers to pick up the Kyubi vessel, while giving another command of quite another nature to others.

"Good, I'll accept your terms," he said as he ordered the zombies to attack.


	25. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Atossa's grip across her waist was firm, but gentle enough to be comfortable. Hinata looked down at the people walking in the streets, who were staring up at her and the two demons flying above their heads. The sound of the beating wings filled her ears as the cool air rushed past her face. In front of her was Mardonius, carrying the giant form of Jiraiya with his arms. The Nathmenids seemed to be an expert at carrying people was they flew. Had it not been for the circumstances, Hinata would certainly enjoy the ride.

It was a bit late, she knew that. Jiraiya told them at that point of time, most likely the Hokage and her Diplomatic Team were well on their way into the forest, even had met the Undead commanders already. There was not much of a hope that they could stop Tsunade and bring Naruto back.

However, she had to try. Hinata gulped at the memory of the times when she had lost him. The regrets, the loneliness, the sorrow, all bottled up in her heart in one, confusing cauldron of emotions. To lose her love once was already tough enough. To lose him twice would be unbearable.

They suddenly stopped, and Hinata broke her revere. As she looked at Atossa in puzzlement, Mardonius said, "Hinata, I sense a familiar demonic power. Kabuto is leading the Undead."

Hinata looked at him, and gasped as she recognized the name.

"I understand that it would be unwise for you to meet him upfront," the Nathmenid replied. "To face him for you is to risk possession, a fate far worse than death. It is advisable for you to return to the village."

Hinata bit her bottom lip. To face Kabuto would mean risking herself to possession. She knew very well that all it would take was a slight touch, and the demonic spirit would be transferred to her body. It would mean her doom, and the wraith getting a new body for itself.

However, there was no way that she would abandon Naruto.

Hinata eyed Mardonius with determination. "I won't abandon him, Mardonius," she said. "I hope that you understand."

The Nathmenid simply nodded.

---

They were quick and merciless.

The zombies flooded towards Tsunade and her party, an endless wave of claws and teeth, pushing them away from the unconscious body of Naruto.

That did little to panic the Hokage, however.

She slammed her fists at the nearest zombies, their heads exploding in a splash of black blood and gore. From the back, she heard the familiar sound of Kaiten, and knew that Hiashi was doing his part for the battle as well. Tsunade turned around, and from the corner of her eye she could see that Asuma and Kurenai had pulled out their little knife and kunai and was slashing any Undead on their way. Gai was combating with fists and kicks.

Despite their best efforts, however, the Hokage could see that they were being surrounded. The bulk of the army was encircling them, threatening to crush them with numbers.

After all, there were only five of them against the thousands of the Undead.

Tsunade did a bit of quick thinking, then did a series of hand seals and pressed her palms onto the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

A cloud of smoke appeared from beneath her palms as the ground seemingly lifted her and everything around her up. When it cleared, it revealed the meaty form of Katsuyu the slug. The zombies that were on it were quickly dispatched.

---

Kabuto only smiled when he saw the huge fleshy form of the Hokage's summon appearing in the air. He had long anticipated this move. In fact, he had wanted her to perform a summon, so that _his_ summon had a worthy foe to fight against.

This would be just like the time when they fought against Orochimaru.

"Ready, everyone," he instructed the other of the Five Royal Wraiths with his mind. "Let's do it."

The other wraiths gave a little sneer as they and Kabuto formed a circle and closed their eyes in concentration.

---

"Katsuyu, get us out of here!" Tsunade shouted as she rammed the last of the Undead near her off. "Hang on, everyone!"

The gigantic slug began to turn around, its slimy body impossible to climb for the Undead far below, and its soft but tough body was immune to the slashing and biting.

Before it could move, though, there was a whirl in the air in front of it. A black circle enlarged itself in the mid-air. Katsuyu staggered backwards as it grew to its size. A gust of wind blew from the circle. Tsunade suddenly felt a chill, as if there was something evil was radiating off this circular disk in front of her.

The circle wobbled, like surface of tar as a pebble dropped in. A red, burning hand emerged from it, the claws at the end of the thick fingers clattered as it groped in the air. It was followed by a thick arm covered with black flames. Eventually the rest of the being appeared, emerging from the circle like a wild man pulling himself out of a dark cave.

However, though it was man in shape, it was hardly a man otherwise. Its head was a large, twisted skull, where the cranium was gone, revealing the pink, pulsing brain. Its eyes were two green glows at the center of its dark eye sockets, and its teeth were a mess of long spikes grown irregularly like thorns in between its jaws. The head was attached to a black, muscular body, with its long muscular arms and legs that ended with hooves. At its back were two large, bat-like wings, where the flaps of skin in between the fingers were holed and rotten. Its entire body was covered with a black, unholy flame, which seemed to suck all the light around it instead of giving it out, bringing forth a chilling evil that seemed to envelop everything around it.

As Tsunade and others stared at the monster, paralyzed with awe and fear, it lunged towards them.

---

With a mental command, Kabuto closed off the portal and opened his eyes, a final gesture that finished the casting of the summoning spell-_Yunkasaea Kunjodotaea._ All around him, the other of the Five did the same.

This was the demonic version of the Sannins' Kuchiyose no jutsu, only it was much harder to perform, as it involved opening a portal to the deepest layer of Hell itself. Not only the Five had to practice it hundreds of times, but all five members were needed to cast it.

However, it was a good trade off. The deepest layer of Hell, known as the Jigoku to those pesky humans, paid residence to the most powerful and the foulest demons of them all. It was largely thanks to these hideous creatures there that the Five managed to defeat Orochimaru.

Kabuto gave a little smirk as the demon that he summoned lunged towards the slug. It was a _bafafo_ demon, one of the worst kinds in Hell. There would be no chance that Tsunade or the Hyuuga to get away with this.

He would crush the Leaf, and the Hyuuga house with it.

---

Hinata and her companions stared in fear and awe at the edge of the forest as they looked at two giants exposed high above the top of the trees. She could feel the chilling evil that was radiating off the monster facing the giant slug. The sensation was familiar. It was as if Kabuto the wraith was screeching in her ears once again.

She heard a gasp from the Nathmenids as the monster lunged forwards.

"A… a _bafafo_ demon?" Atossa whispered, a tone of fear evident in her voice.

Mardonius simply stared at the huge shape, his lips twisted in distaste.

Jiraiya did a series of hand seals and pressed his palms downwards.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Instantly, a huge white smoke appeared beneath his palms. The smoke quickly cleared to reveal the form of a giant toad. Hinata had heard about the Toad Summon Gama Bunta, but this was the first time she saw it up close.

Gama Bunta almost dropped the pipe in his mouth. "Good gods, what's going on here?" it exclaimed as Mardonius and Atossa landed on his head. "Two Nathmenids here? None of them have been in this far east before!"

"They're Mardonius and Atossa, Gama Bunta," Jiraiya hastily replied. "But no time for introductions! Look!"

Gama Bunta glared at the monster that stood in front of Katsuyu the slug. "I see. Brace yourselves, here I go!"

There was a sudden yank in the surface of the toad's head as it accelerated towards the monster. Hinata lost her balance and tumbled over. She gave out a squeak before darkness took her.

---

Tsunade managed to stay on her feet as the enemy creature dug its claws on Katsuyu's skin. The attack would not mean much for the slug, for it would not cut through the tough skin, but the impact almost made her lose her footing.

She glanced around. Those who should be on her slug were still there, poised ready to dodge any attacks from their gigantic enemy. At the bottom of Katsuyu she could see the mass of Undead, still trying in vain to climb up the slippery slimy skin of her slug.

The monster struck again, the force almost throwing her over. The Hokage managed to balance herself.

She heard a scream from behind.

"Asuma!" Kurenai screamed. Tsunade saw her reaching out to grab the falling shinobi, but it was too late. He disappeared into the mass of Undead below.

There was little time to grief for their friend, though, for the creature struck another blow.

As Tsunade staggered to balance herself, from the corner of her eye she could see a gigantic white smoke, and smiled.

Almost immediately, the giant form of Gama Bunta lunged towards the monster, its sword flashing straight for the monster's mid-section. It leaped away as the giant toad spun around and stomped on the ground to stop itself, crushing hundreds of zombies in the process.

"Tsunade, go!" Jiraiya shouted. The Hokage nodded.

"Let's go, Katsuyu," she said and her slug turned around for a retreat.

---

With a loud roar, the _bafafo_ demon lunged at the giant toad, its claws flashing dangerously.

Her brows twisting with effort, Atossa focused her mind to bending the space-time continuum in between the demon and the toad, creating an invisible barrier that bounced the monster staggering back. Regaining its balance, it tried again, only to be bounced off by the same rip in the continuum.

That was already taxing her to the limit, as she was still recovering from that Time-Stop spell that she cast several days earlier.

That did not change what she had to do, however.

As she created another space-time barrier to stop another attack, Atossa began to feel a little faint. Her legs wobbled a bit as she fought for her balance, dropping her defense.

The distraction was enough for the _bafafo_ demon to come within the striking distance.

As Gama Bunta blocked a blow from the _bafafo_ demon, the impact of the giant sword and claws created a tremendous tremble on the head of the toad. The she-Nathmenid completely blacked out before she lost her balance and tumbled off the edge.

---

With a wave of his arm, Mardonius summoned a _Kataya_, emitting its usual bright white light in his fist.

The Nathmenid knew that he was still weak, his power not yet fully rejuvenated and there was still that aching wound on his side. Hence he did not dare to even summon more than one _Kataya_, for he feared the stress of using so much power would kill him.

That meant he was at his weakest.

However, that was not going to stop him from getting Naruto back.

As Atossa handled the _bafafo_ demon, Mardonius scanned the sea of rotting flesh below, hoping to see the flash of orange that would mark the location of his friend, and a chance for him to pick him up from the air.

It was then he caught a movement from the corner of his eye. Mardonius made a small gasp as he realized it was Atossa falling off the edge, down into the hordes of Undead below.

Horrified, he spread his wings and leaped into the air.


	26. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Mardonius' eyes widened as he flew as fast as he could towards the falling Atossa. With a loud shout, he spread his wings even wider as he glided towards his unconscious love, his arm reaching as far as it could as he tried to grab onto something that was out of his reach.

His panic increased with each centimetre of the distance Atossa closed with the horde of monstrosities down beneath her, their teeth chattering as if anticipating their prey. With great strength his wings gave a quick beat against the air, and the demon thrust himself towards his target.

It would not end here, not like this, not when he could help it. He may seem to be uncaring and detached at times, but that was because he knew that his love was powerful enough to handle her problems. To have to save her like this was something that never crossed his mind.

Nothing was more important to Mardonius than Atossa. Naruto and the Nine Tails power were important, yes, but without Atossa it would all be in vain. After all, the she-demon was the reason why he cared so much about stopping Kunbujiya getting the Nine Tails, for he knew that Kunbujiya would become an inescapable threat should he ever ended up having the energies of all the Ghost Demons.

Mardonius let out a loud yell as he managed to grab hold of Atossa and flew off, ascending away from the horde of Undead.

He stopped in the air, his breathing heavy and short. The demon looked down at the unconscious body that his arm had wrapped around, and smiled as he saw the beautiful face of his other half. He would not have to lose her that day.

A sudden voice broke his revere.

"Mardonius!" Jiraiya managed to cry out from below as Gama Bunta fought the _bafafo_ demon. "Grab Hinata too and get out of here! I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

The demon looked at his friend, his eyes widened as he called out.

"What about you? You won't survive this alone!"

"Yes, I will! And you're not going to help here!" the Sanin shouted as he balanced himself when the toad skilfully dodged another strike from the enemy. "Take Hinata and leave! The Hokage will need you, too!"

The Nathmenid bit his bottom lip. He could not just leave his friend here alone with that _bafafo_ demon. Yet he knew that his presence here would not do much to help. He would be able to do much more with the Hokage, who was now retreating to the village. Reluctantly, the demon nodded.

Mardonius looked around. He could find the tall form of Jiraiya standing on the toad easily. Yet, the girl that was supposed to be with him remained unseen. "But… where's Hinata?"

---

Kabuto and the Five might be busy with their mental commands for their Undead soldiers, but they were not deaf.

Especially when one of them was alert to a certain name.

"Hinata? She's here?" Kabuto thought to himself.

He turned around to another one of the Five. "There's something I must attend to," he said. "I'll leave most of my commands to you, Katasos."

The Wraith nodded as he saw his superior turning around and leaping into the air.

---

"Halt!" Tsunade called out. Kurenai stared at her, surprised to be stopping under such circumstances.

Then her red eyes saw what the Hokage saw: a young, black-haired girl lying unconscious on the ground. Above her were several stumps of broken branches, indicating that she had fallen from great height. However, she did look as if she was severely injured. The kunoichi recognized her instantly: Hinata.

"Quickly, Katsuyu," the Hokage instructed, "Get her."

"As you wish," the slug replied as a piece from it dropped off to form a small slug, which slid towards the unconscious girl.

It was about then they heard a roar from behind. Kurenai turned around, and saw a giant skeleton, about the same size as Katsuyu, in the distance.

---

Mardonius heard that roar as well. He quickly turned around. From his height he could see the Undead's skeletal dragon, along with an Undead army that was marching underneath it, half-hidden beneath the trees.

He recognized the Undead dragon right away. "Oh, no."

---

Walking out of his tent, Uchiha Sasuke saw the top of the gigantic slug stopping above the trees. Nearby Hitstapa's dragon was approaching to engage the enemy. All around him his Undead soldiers were performing their routine task in maintaining and guarding the camp, just as he had instructed them before their general returned to his tent and had a bit of rest.

Back in the days when he was with Orochimaru, Sasuke had heard about the Sanin and their summons. Therefore he was not really that much surprised when the toad and the slug appeared in the battle. What was surprising to him was that the toad was one that he could recognize. That huge pipe in its mouth, the same snobbish quality, wasn't that the same toad that Naruto summoned back when he was fighting Sabaku no Gaara all those years ago?

Sasuke clutched his fists as he remembered his old and former friend. Since Kunbujiya had reawakened his demonic powers, he no longer needed to get his Mangekyou Sharingan. He was pretty certain that he was now Itachi's equal, if not his superior. There was no need to kill Naruto now, since he no longer required the extra power.

As the highest commander of the Northern Forces, Sasuke knew exactly what this war was about. The thought of capturing Naruto to extract some sort of demon power distressed him. Knowing Kunbujiya, he could hardly imagine the things that he would make his friend go through. It was not his wish to capture his friend.

Yet the prospect of meeting Itachi for one more time was worth it.

He desired to face his brother once again, to see whether the demonic powers he now possess was enough to destroy his nemesis once and for all, to fulfil the purpose of everything that he had ever done. He desired to see his brother dead at his feet, powerless against his fury and hate.

Then again, he did not desire Naruto to be caught, did not desire to see his village burning down to the ground. He would help the Leaf, if he could. However, it would mean betraying Kunbujiya, and Sasuke did not really want to do that, for the King's fury was not something to be taken lightly, especially when the entire army could turn against the general at the king's will.

Sasuke decided that he would take in part in this. After all, would not be two entire legions, consisting of more than a million zombies, be enough to destroy a village which only had a thousand men at most, particularly when they had two summons on their side? Surely the king could not blame him for standing aside.

With that thought, the general returned to his tent.

---

It seemed forever before Hinata was finally brought to the top of Katsuyu, but the slug managed it. By that time, thought, the skeletal dragon was already upon them, its large, bony jaws snapping, threatening to engulf all that was on the slug.

Tsunade quickly turned around to face the new threat.

"Huarghh!!!" she yelled out as she smashed her fist at the skull in front of her with full strength. The force was enough to send the dragon flying, and it crashed onto the ground with a bang and a clatter of bones.

"That should take it out for a while," the Hokage muttered.

Then there was a rustle of leaves as the frontline of another Undead army emerged.

---

Mardonius saw the march of the Undead division, and saw the Hokage and her group standing on the slug.

Before he knew what he was doing, the demon had already flown towards the frontline of the zombies, the white light of his _Kataya_ slashing through their rotting bodies. Only after that he realized it was not really necessary. The Undead would not be able to climb onto the slug anyway.

Mardonius landed next to the Hokage. "_Kunka_-Tsunade," he said as he prepared to put Atossa down onto the slug.

Tsunade put her hand onto his shoulder. "No, Mardonius," she said.

As Mardonius looked at the Hokage in surprise, she ordered, "Hiashi, come over here. I need to speak to you."

The white-eyed Hyuuga came forward. "Hiashi, go back to the village and start preparing for the defense," the Hokage ordered. "I will have to hold here for a while. Make haste."

The demon and Hiashi opened their mouths. Was Tsunade planning to stay here and fight, despite the odds?

He and Hiashi talked at once. "But Tsunade…"

"Don't argue, do as I say!"

That shut both of them up.

"But what about Hinata?" Mardonius asked.

"I'll take care of her!" Tsunade turned around. From the corner of his eyes, Mardonius could see that skeletal dragon reforming itself. "Now go!" she yelled out.

Mardonius and Hiashi looked at each other. "Come on," the Nathmenid turned his back on the Hyuuga, gesturing him to climb up his back.

---

The first thing Naruto noticed was the pungent, stinging smell.

He felt himself being carried, a pressure wrapping around his waist, with his stomach bouncing up and down uncomfortably on something small, round and hard.

The blonde opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the yellowish blur. When the image cleared he realized that he was looking at the ground, his arms hanging underneath his face.

Naruto turned his head around, and saw that he was hanging over somebody's shoulder, an arm wrapped around his waist. Turning his head in the other direction, the blonde saw the back of a head, the black hair falling out of a rotting scalp… rotting scalp?

It was then he realized that this was a zombie.

He reared up, his back aching from yanking his heavy upper torso. The blonde reached for the arm that was tightly wrapped around his waist, but it would not budge.

The zombie carrying him keep on moving forwards, taking little heed of his struggles.

"Let me go, damn it!" Naruto shouted.

The blonde struggled harder, his body swinging and his legs kicking. He felt his thigh in contact with something soft and watery, and immediately he was thrown onto the ground.

The next thing he knew was a rotting, skull-like face crashing onto his own.

Naruto gagged as the smell intensified about ten times. It was so strong that he could almost taste it in his throat. He could feel his jumper being soaked, saturated with pungent fluids that was oozing from the body that was on top of him.

The blonde winced with disgust as he pushed the dead corpse away from him. Naruto got to his feet, fighting the nausea that was gathering in his stomach as he noticed that his clothes were drenched with body fluids.

The ninja looked down at the de-animated zombie that was now lying on the ground at his feet. He could still tell that the rags it was in were the remains of a green Chunnin suit. The blonde could not help but to notice the remnants of a sand headband on his forehead, the blue cloth filled with tears and holes and the once-silver metal plate rusty. However, the symbol of the Sand Village was still visible.

Naruto looked around him. Tall trees surrounded the blonde, and several familiar ones told the blonde that he was in the forest that was around the Leaf.

The last thing he could remember was following Neji into a narrow alley. Naruto recalled Neji turning around and, before he knew it, struck him in the head.

Had the Hyuuga betrayed him?

Naruto widened his eyes at the thought. Neji did not seem to be that type. Besides, what could the Hyuuga gain for this betrayal anyway? The Undead would not be sparing him, Naruto was sure of that. They would slaughter everything they could find.

The blonde heard a loud boom and looked up and around. He could just see a glimpse of blue over the top of the trees.

He leapt onto the nearby branch for a clearer view. Naruto found himself eyeing on Tsunade's giant slug, squashing the trees and the black, tiny dots scattered around the forest as it wriggled to dodge the attacks of a huge skeleton that looked like a lizard with wings.

What was the Hokage doing here?

It did not matter; all Naruto knew was that he had to help her.

He rushed towards the battlefield.


	27. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Mardonius, with Hiashi in one arm and Atossa in the other, flew over the walls of Konoha. His presence surprised the ninjas that were patrolling on the Konoha walls.

It seemed to the demon that the village was on alert. The shinobis were running about, readying for the defense. Several of them were standing guard at the top of the walls, overseeing the battle that was raging in the distance. Other villagers were running around, some screaming at the top of their lungs in panic. Some looked at Mardonius in fright as the demon flew over them, while some eyed him with a look of distaste.

A group of ninjas were gathering at the gates, seemingly ready to move out. Mardonius noticed that those ninjas had white eyes, just like Hiashi and Hinata.

To the surprise of the Nathmenid, those ninjas were only relieved to see the demon carrying their leader as he landed onto the ground. Mardonius guessed that they were the ones who knew about the Hyuuga's true heritage.

"Hiashi-sama!" they called out as they rushed towards Mardonius, who let Hiashi onto the ground.

"Hiashi-sama!" the front-most, an elderly man, spoke when he reached the pair. "Thank goodness you're back. We thought…"

Hiashi held his hand up. "How many have we gathered here already?"

"Just a few of us," the Hyuuga replied. "We didn't have time to for more."

"Gather some more," the Hyuuga leader interrupted. "In fact, I want all of the Hyuuga to be at the gate as soon as possible. We'll need everyone to hold these gates. "

"Hai!" the white-eyed ninjas all disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Mardonius and Atossa along, staring at the empty space that they once occupied.

It took him a while before Mardonius realized that he had no idea what to do next. The villagers did not trust him, that he knew. He also knew little about the village. These two conditions made it literally impossible for him to help with mounting a defence. Also, the fact that he had an unconscious Nathmenid, still wrapped up around him, did not help.

Then he felt Atossa began to stir in his arm. His eyes instantly went down to his other half.

"Mardonius?" she whispered as she looked up at the demon's eyes. "Jiraiya!" she yelled out as Mardonius helped her to her feet, and she looked around. "Er... What happened?"

"You overtaxed yourself, Atossa," Mardonius replied. "You lost conscious."

She looked at him for a second.

"Oh, okay," she replied. "Thanks for bringing me back, Mardonius." The demoness looked around. "What should we do now?"

Mardonius looked at her in the eye. Her recovery seemed to have sparked his thinking, igniting his thoughts in the brain. An idea quickly emerged.

"I think we should go looking for a certain blonde," he said as he stretched out his wings. "Let's go."

---

"Assembly! At the gates!" a voice shouted. "We'll be heading off in 5 minutes!"

Those were the words that Neji heard as he rushed onto the streets in his battle clothing, his kunai hoister on his thigh. Dozens or so others ran alongside with him, heading towards the same direction.

However, unlike the other Hyuuga, Neji knew exactly what was going on. While the other Hyuuga only knew that the Undead were on the move against the village, Neji knew very well what made that happen. Apparently Naruto was not enough for them, and they would stop at nothing until the village is obliterated.

"Neji-kun!"

The Hyuuga turned around at the source of the voice. Standing there, on the sidewalk, was a young, pregnant woman with her black hair tied up in two buns.

"Neji!" she called out as she limped forward.

"Tenten?"

Tenten stepped out onto the street. Her face was twisted with worry as she looked at Neji with concern burning in her eyes. Temperarily losing her balance, the woman reached out and held herself to a nearby wall, her other hand holding her waist as if trying to support her large abdomen. Neji quickly rushed towards her.

"Tenten, you're supposed to be within the caves!"

"Neji-kun," Tenten smiled weakly as she threw herself around the Hyuuga. "I know. I just can't stand it to be left behind while you risk your life."

"I'm sorry, Tenten," Neji patted her back. "It is all my fault."

"No," she said. "I never regreted that night, Neji. I'm glad to carry your child. It is just that..." she let out a sigh. "I am afraid. I know that there's nothing to worry about but... I feel that I will not see you again. Please, Neji-kun," she said. "Can you promise me to come back?"

Neji bit his bottom lip as he stared at his lover in her eyes. There was a saddness there. Yet there was a strong will, strong determination, as if she was daring him not to make the promise.

"I... I will return," Neji said. "I promise."

Tenten smiled as she buried herself into his chest. "Please, hold me for a while," she said.

---

There was nothing Tsunade could do but to allow Katsuyu to rest. Below the horde of Undead swarmed, trying to climb on the slippery skin of the slug, only to be stopped by the slime and the occasionly thrown shuriken and kunai. However, their claws had marked millions of wounds on the slug, its precious green life leaking out. The Hokage could feel the strength of her summon faltering. Katsuyu had been loyal: any other summon would have just left long ago. Yet Tsunade knew that she would have to give the command for the slug to leave, or else it would die.

Tsunade looked around at what was left of her team, the "diplomatic team" that was supposed to negotiated with those monsters. Kurenai was looking after Hinata, who was lying unconscious, while Gai was throwing ninja stars at the few zombies who managed a couple of inches up the slug. They both looked at Tsunade, the despair in their eyes was evident. They knew that this was the end.

Not far away, the giant form of Gama Bunta was struggling against both the skeletal creature and that hideous monster that Katsuyu fought earlier. It had only been moments ago when Jiraiya and his toad were pushed back, followed by their demonic nemesis and the Undead army that went with it. They fought valiantly, yet they were unable to hold back all of horde of zombies that were starting to march towards the village.

Just then, a sudden chill made Tsunade shiver. A loud, high-pitched scream screeched through the air, making her heart jump from the damp coldness it brought.

There was a gasp from behind her.

"What are you…" Kurenai let out a scream when Tsunade turned around, just in time for her to see the kunoichi being hit by a spectacled man with bat-wings and horns. Kurenai would have been completely thrown off the slug had she not been caught by Gai, who was rushing up to help her. Tsunade could barely recognize the man as Kabuto before he got to Hinata and pressed his hand onto her face.

The next thing she knew were a bright green light that enveloped everything within her sight, and a loud evil laugh that filled her ears…

---

Even without their demonic senses, Atossa and Mardonius could tell what was going on by the green light that was shining from behind their back.

"Oh, no!" Atossa cried out in horror. "Hinata!"

Mardonius grinded his teeth. He had entirely forgotten about the Hyuuga girl. "A curse upon us!"

They watched helplessly as the possession continued.

---

Through the forest canopy, Naruto landed on a branch and stopped when he saw a bright green light shining above him in front, coming from near where the top of the slug would be.

Naruto shivered from a sudden chill that suddenly coursed through his heart. He frowned at the bright light, trying to fathom what it was. Even without any idea of its nature, there was something about it that make him feel very uncomfortable. It was as if it was something unholy, something unclean, something evil.

He suddenly had a very, very bad feeling about this.

Biting his bottom lip, Naruto continued his way towards the battlefield.

---

Histapa stared at the green light, his lips twisted in distaste.

So was this what it was all about? A wraith trying to seize his hands upon a new body?

The Control Master clutched his fists. He had not sent out his troops to help that accursed spirit. The King gave them the army in their quest for the Kyubi vessel, not for some damnable spirit to possess a new body. He thought that Kabuto was moving in for that blonde haired human. Apparently it was not so.

The Nathmenid commander bit his lip in frustration. How could Kabuto abuse the King's Army for his own selfish purposes? Did that wraith even have a shred of loyalty towards his Highness? He made an angry snarl as he stomped back towards the bulk of his forces behind him, heading back towards his camp and mentally called his troops back. If all Kabuto cared about was his damnable body, then Histapa was not going to help him.

Turning around, the Nathmenid general and his army headed off back towards camp.

---

The bright light soon dissipated, and everything came back into view.

Tsunade opened her eyes and looked back up. Standing in front of her was Hinata, staring down at a limp body that was lying in front of her, the fringes of her hair covering her eyes. Tsunade saw something on the kinoichi's back, and squinted. Were those a pair of wings on her back?

Hinata suddenly looked up, revealing the horns on her forehead as her fringes fell back. Tsunade widened her eyes in surprise when she saw that the white parts of Hinata's eyes, which gave off an evil aura, had turned completely black.

"Hinata?" Tsunade asked as the kunoichi looked at her hands.

"Yes, it worked!" she snarled, her voice deep and menacing, an obscene contrast to her normal one. "The possession is complete!"

The Hokage was completely confused. "What?"

Hinata stared at her, her white irises cold with contempt.

"You have no idea what is going on?" She sneered as she let out a high-pitched screech, making Tsunade cover her ears. However, the awful sound seemed to went through her hands, penetrating through her eardrums and straight into her skull.

Hinata let out a cold, mirthless laugh as she charged towards the Hokage. Tsunade could only manage to dodge just in time. The winged girl tumbled off the edge of the slug, spread her wings and flew off. Hinata turned around in the air and laughed as she raised her arm, pointing her fingers at the Hokage as if indicating to the Undead that Tsunade was the target.

The zombies snarled as they intensified their attacks upon Katsuyu. The slug let out a small groan as thousands of claws struck its body. With a loud crash its head collapsed onto the ground, crushing the Undead underneath.

Tsunade felt a tremor. "Oh no," she muttered.

It seemed that Gai and Kurenai realized what was going on, for they, along with Tsunade, just managed to leap forward in time when her slug disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Tsunade!" the Hokage heard Jiraiya's voice behind him.

The trio managed to land onto a nearby branch. However, the Undead followed them in pursue. Tsunade looked back, and saw the zombies flooding in between, as well as climbing and crawling onto the trees as they rushed towards them like a tsunami. The Hokage looked at them in horror as they began to gain up on them.

A sudden voice yelled out.

"Charge!"

Tsunade looked forward. There, charging towards them, were a band of ninjas in a line formation, their white eyes glaring with determination as they came. The Hokage recognized several of them, and one of them was Hiashi.


	28. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Neji winced his nose as the smell of rot and decay reached the nostrils.

Despite the fact that this was the second time he faced the Undead, the smell was still something that he still had to get use to. Throughout his life as a shinobi, never before Neji had faced fouler foes. In fact, he doubted that there were anything more hideous than those limping, snarling flesh of rot. They were creatures that were supposed to exist in the worst nightmares.

Yet here they were, snarling as they approached behind the Hokage and her two subordinates, who came rushing towards the Hyuuga front. Eying the thin line of Hyuuga, Neji somehow wondered how long they could hold it before the Undead came rushing into the gates behind them, flooding the village with their sickening presence. It was a thought that made his stomach churn.

Whose idea was it that giving them Naruto would buy their retreat?

"Hokage-sama!" Hiashi said. "We'll take it from here."

The Hokage gave a small nod, and rushed into the gates.

Neji looked backed at the enemy they were facing. Somehow the Undead stopped their chase, and formed a rotten wall a few dozens meters from the Hyuuga line. Several dark shapes emerged from the army of death. There was a loud gasp when everyone seemed to recognise one of them.

"Hinata?" Neji shouted.

---

Sakura's brows furrowed as she focused her mind onto issuing her next order, trying to ignore the noise that was coming from outside the room.

Ever since the Undead renewed their attack, all the shinobis had turned to Sakura for orders. It was not that that was causing the trouble in her mind, however. After all, it was customary that the Hokage's apprentice would assume leadership during the Hokage's absence. Tsunade often reminded Sakura of how important it was for her to be ready to take control, since there was always a chance that she would not be in the village when she was needed most.

Still, it was a new experience for her to take control.

"Sakura-sama?" the shinobi in front of her asked.

"Uh... you take the First Ave," Sakura replied. "Just gather the villagers around and, um, group them together. Then take them to the mountains where they'll be safe."

"Hai!" The ninja acknowledged his orders and made a hand-seal. He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Another shinobi came in through the door. Sakura let out a deep breath. She was so not used to this.

---

Neji stared in disbelief at the winged Hyuuga who was flying in front of him. Hinata's lips twisted into a sneer as she pointed her finger at him. As if receiving a silent command, the Undead beneath her marched forwards.

"Hinata?" he whispered. "But how? Why?"

"I don't know," Tsunade said. "I just saw Kabuto touching her, and then a green light..."

Just then Neji heard a loud screech that rattled his mind. Covering his ears, he found that the sound seemed to penetrate through his hands, through his eardrums, and thrust right into his head. A dark, chilling feel began to spread throughout his body.

The next thing he knew was a hand on his shoulder. Neji turned around, and saw Hiashi, who was grabbing him by the shoulder. For a moment the Hyuuga frowned in puzzlement to find his uncle somehow ended up behind him. Then he realized that in that moment of panic, he had almost turned around and fled.

Neji looked around, and saw that several of the Hyuuga were already running around, their fear evident in their eyes. The Hyuuga saw that Hiashi, too, was fearful, but the Hyuuga leader bit his bottom lip and held on.

"You... you are no Hinata," he growled. "What have you done to her?"

"Oh," Hinata said as she looked around at the Hyuuga. "So you brought out everyone. Good, saves me the trouble of looking for you all." She sneered as she raised her hand and flew backwards.

The Undead scampered as they charged forwards.

---

The sounds of battle grew louder, and Naruto knew that he was approaching the grounds of war.

He paused, and proceed to leap towards one of the highest branches in the forest. Once on his high ground, the blonde saw the giant toad fighting a gigantic humanoid with wings on its back. Tsunade's slug and the giant skeleton were no where in sight.

He bit his bottom lip. He knew that Jiraiya and Gama Bunta would require some sort of help. Naruto was about to head for that direction when he heard a familiar voice.

"Naruto!"

The shinobi turned around, and was relieved to see the sight of two Nathmenids that were hovering in the air, their wings flapping.

"Mardonius!" Naruto cried out.

"You are not going to fight the _bafafo_ demon like this," Mardonius said. "We're going with you."

"Ah," Naruto blurted out. "Let's go then!"

---

Jiraiya bit his bottom lip as Gama Bunta dodged another blow from the monster. Even without the skeletal dragon on its side, the _bafafo_ proved to be a tough opponent. For a being of that size, the demonwas very agile. By the time it had already opened up several gashes on Gama's side, the toad still had yet to land one single blow upon its adversary. No matter what the toad did, the demon seem to be able to leap out of the way. If this kept up, it would not be long before Jiraiya and Gama Bunta fell.

Jiraiya risked a peek behind him. There, half-hidden in the canopy, was the black mass of Undead, held back by the white line that stood in the path between it and the gates of Konoha. The line was a lot thinner than the last time Jiraiya looked. It would not take very long before they broke through the Hyuuga and into the Leaf.

Time was running out.

Then there was an orange explosion, and the demon tumbled over to one side. An orange blur leaped onto Gama Bunta, and two winged figures landed next to the Sannin.

"Hi Jiraiya," Atossa said. Jiraiya's eyes lit up.

Mardonius, Atossa, and Naruto. With them together, maybe they would have a chance...

---

Neji stared at the zombie rushing towards him. Biting his teeth, he thrashed out his kunai. With a quick flick, the skull in front immediately split into two gory halves, the blood splashing into the shinobi vest that was already caked with sweat.

The Hyuuga looked at the chaos around him. The Undead was everywhere around him, ganging up onto the few Hyuuga who were more or less fighting in a formation that forms a wall at the Konoha gates. An occasional Kaiten would throw some of them away from the Hyuuga line, but the Undead were relentless in their attacks. The Hyuuga line would not hold much longer, and the zombies would pour into the streets of Konoha, slaughtering everything in their paths.

So that was how it would all end.

Strangely enough, Neji felt no fear. Instead there was a calm resolution. He had done his part for the Leaf, committing everything to its protection. Dying here would not be disgraceful. After all, he had survived the first zombie attack, and that was saying something considering that the Sand fell in the first assault.

Neji looked up into the petite figure of Hinata, who was hovering above the horde of Undead, her face grinning evilly. The Hyuuga could not help but wonder if she was one of them all along, playing them all around until this final moment. If so, why? Was it just because of her banishment?

A sudden snarl to the right was the only warning Neji got. With a side-step, the Hyuuga narrowly escaped the bloody claws of a rotting, animated corpse, adorned in a torn shinobi vest with a Sand headband on its bloodless forehead.

With lips twisted in disgust, the Hyuuga struck his palms onto the zombie, spilling his chakra into his half-decayed nemesis. There was a loud, sickening crunch, and the zombie was thrown backwards, back into the rest of the Undead.

Then a loud voice called.

"Hiashi! Hiashi-sama is dead!"

Neji looked up in shock. Held up by rotting hands, the head of his uncle was paraded over the sea of Undead. Gasps of fear and shock spread wherever the head went.

The Hyuuga front shattered like a sand wall before the sea. The Undead rushed in, flooding towards the gates of Konoha. There was nothing Neji could do but to watch helplessly as the zombies marched into the streets of the Leaf.

So this was it then.

Neji never noticed when a zombie walked up behind him. There was a loud thunk, and then blackness...

---

"Damn it, they've broken through!" Jiraiya shouted.

Everyone looked behind them at the Konoha. The black mass of Undead swarmed over the white line of Hyuuga and was rolling towards the unguarded gates of Konoha.

"Damn it!" Naruto shouted.

"Look out!" Atossa cried.

Naruto just managed to see the _bafafo_ demon lunging towards them when he almost fell over as Gama Bunta wheeled around to dodge an upward slash, the claws missing the blonde only by a couple meters. Mardonius and Atossa leaped into the air, and darted straight towards the giant monster.

When Naruto regained his proper footing, the Nathmenids were already circling around the demon, whizzing around it so quickly that their _Kataya_ created a path of light encircling around the monster. Like a giant trying to grab annoying insects, the demon waved his arm in vain. With its attention leaving Gama Bunta, it began to step backwards away from the giant toad.

An opening!

"Now, Jiraiya!" Gama Bunta cried.

Jiraiya nodded as he took a deep breathe in, and blew out fire from his mouth. At the same time, Gama Bunta breathed out a jet of oil at the blaze, creating a line of flames that shot straight at the _bafafo_ demon.

"Katon- Gama Yuendan!"

Mardonius and Atossa could just dodge in time before the entire area was engulfed in flames, the blast consuming the giant hellish demon in a large, orange fireball. The Nathmenid couple flew back to Gama Bunta, landing next to Jiraiya.

"Wow," Atossa muttered as she looked at the blast. "Next time give us some damned warning before you do something like that!"

"Well, you dodged," Jiraiya replied.

The fire quickly died down to smoke. When the smoke cleared, the _bafafo_ demon was still standing, apparently unscathed.

"Damn it," Jiraiya shouted. "How do you kill that thing?"

The giant staggered a little as it tried to move. Then, with a loud crash, it collapsed onto the ground.

For a moment, Jiraiya stared at the motionless giant that was lying amongst the canopy. After a while, when he saw that it stayed still, Jiraiya realized that it was dead.

"Well, normally we would lure it into a _Mojoya_, then seal it in the ground," Mardonius replied. "Apparently that works as well."

Jiraiya looked at him. "Ok," he said. "Come on, we got a... Oh what the heck?"

The Toad Sannin pointed past Mardonius, who turned around. Everyone gasped at the sight of a cloud of black dots that was beginning to roll over the skies of Konoha...

"Oh, _dastaka_..."

---

Tsunade fended off the sharp claws that were reaching for her face, and punched the face of their owner. The zombie was send flying down the corridor, its head a bloody heap. Right next to her was Sakura, her fists bludgeoning at the two zombies that were pressing her towards the balcony.

After she rushed through the gates of Konoha, it did not take Tsunade very long before she reached the Hokage building. Ordering Kurenai to help with the evacuation efforts, the Hokage proceeded to seek out Sakura. It was exactly when she found her apprentice when, from the balcony, she saw the Undead marching onto the streets, burning and pillaging everything on sight.

Very soon the Undead were rushing into the Hokage building, crowding through every door and every window they could reach.

Tsunade quickly ran to Sakura and dispatched the two zombies quickly.

The master and apprentice turned around at the crowd of Undead slowly walking towards them, filling up the entire Hokage office with their rotten presence. Slowly the two backed towards the balcony as the zombies approached.

Tsunade risked a glance behind her. The streets below the balcony were filled with zombies.

There was no escape.

The Hokage suddenly felt a quick wind as something shot past her ear. One of the zombies in front of her staggered as if something hit it.

A bolt was buried on its forehead up to the feathered end.

Tsunade turned to look back. A line of a dozen or so Nathmenids hovered at the same level as the balcony behind her. With their faces almost entirely covered by their black helmets, Tsunade could not tell their facial features. Yet she knew very well that none of those were the two Nathmenids that she knew. The Hokage widened her eyes in surprise as the armored demons aimed at strange-looking weapon at the Undead.

"Argh! What the..."

Tsunade squealed when a sudden force yanked her up from the balcony.


	29. Chapter 27

N/A: I apologize for the delay of this chapter.

Chapter 27

Their torches lighting the darkness, Kurenai and Gai led the band of villagers through the labyrinth of tunnels. Following the orders of their Hokage, they were guiding the villagers into the depths of the mountain where they would be safe.

The Hokage mountains served both as a monument to the past Konoha leaders and as a safe haven for the non-combatants of the Konoha village. Traditionally, whenever a battle broke out within the Leaf walls, the common folk would be lead into the mountains, where the labyrinth of tunnels served as a protection from attackers. Also, there was a secret passage that led to miles outside the village, which provided a route for escape should it became necessary, though most Leaf villagers and their shinobis had little idea of its existence. Most of them only knew of the rooms that lay below where they were.

A light ignited the tunnel around the corner in front, and a rotten face appeared.

Kurenai stopped in surprise, spreading her arms out to stop others from passing her.

The zombie turned around and saw the party crowded in the tunnel. It snarled, and was joined by more Undead.

"Shi...shimata!" Gai yelled out. "How the hell did they..."

The tunnel then lit up with a sudden explosion from beyond the corner. A black figure darted out. With two quick strokes, the heads of the zombies flew of their shoulders and rolled onto the ground. From underneath the large grass hat, two red eyes looked intensely at Kurenai.

Kurenai gasped when she saw that it was Uchiha Itachi.

---

"What the..." Atossa muttered.

As they approached the Undead army and the Leaf Village, it became apparent that the black cloud of figures were swirling above the zombies, attacking them with rain after rain of arrows and bolts. Then it seemed that there was infighting amongst the Undead on the grounds as well, as the zombies seemed to be attacking those that were in tight, line formations that had them entirely trapped. When they noticed that the formations were bristled with long spears, with which the soldiers were using to keep the other zombies at bay, they realized that these were two armies fighting against each other. They finally saw that the spear wielders were not zombies at all, but people in black armour.

The Nathmenids, Naruto and Jiraiya all stared at the mayhem, puzzled.

"Look!" Atossa pointed.

There, amongst those linear formations, were black banners with a symbol consisting of a crucifix with a winged triangle behind it.

"No, I can't believe it," Mardonius muttered, his voice tensing with excitement. He pointed. "That is the emblem of the Immortals!"

---

From his viewpoint at the top of a small hill, Kakashi could only stare at the battle at his village raged on, with the Nathmenid army marching to war. Kakashi had never seen a battle like this before.

The Nathmenid soldiers were deployed in a long line of a dozen or so deep. Packing themselves tightly together, their round shield, which was tied up to their right arm, formed a formidable wall at the front. Their spears, so long that they had to be held by two hands, were held up or, in the case of the front rows, forwards, forming a wall of bristling spearheads at the front and above. As the Undead threw themselves to the Nathmenids, they impaled themselves onto the spears, and those who made it to the formation were stopped by the wall of shields, and were impaled by the shorter spears of those in the front most rows.

What amazed the ninja was that they were able to march forwards without breaking such a formation, which Roxana called a "phalanx". The phalanx trapped the zombies with their shields and spears, while the flying Nathmenids, armed with crossbows and bags of explosives, bombarded the trapped Undead. Should any of the soldiers in the frontline fall, the column would push forwards and thus, the one who was the second in line would become the first. It was cooperation on the highest scale.

As a ninja, Kakashi valued team cooperation more over than individual skills in a battle, but never had he seen such cooperation as such a level. While ninja teams were coordinated in some ways, it was mostly "each team to its own". Marching forth in a tight, straight line was something Kakashi had never dreamt of, let alone witness.

The ninja did not know what would happen if the Leaf had to face such an army.

"Enjoying the scene, Kakashi?"

Kakashi turned towards the source of that voice. Standing there, amongst several other Nathmenids, was Roxana.

"Er. Yes, Roxana-sama," replied Kakashi. "The Nathmenid army is... certainly impressive."

"Good, I'm glad that you find it so," Roxana smiled slyly. "Come, there's something I need to show you."

---

Flying through the skies of Konoha was something that Tsunade had never experienced before.

The Hokage looked up again at the black-armoured Nathmenid that was now holding her by her belt and the back of her shirt. The helmet had obscured most of the facial features, but the horns still protruded from under the frontal rim.

All around her, the Nathmenids were aiming and firing their strange weapons at the Undead below. Having no ranged weapons, the zombies were basically sitting ducks. A few tried to jump up to reach their enemies, but they never reached the height that the Nathmenids were flying in. Most of them ended up looking like porcupines, with their bodies bristling with arrow ends.

However, she began to notice that the Nathmenids were not particularly aiming at the zombies at all. They were aiming at those skeletons that dotted here and there amongst the Undead army. Once one of those skeletons fell, Tsunade saw several zombies fall along with it.

They quickly flew over the Konoha walls, outside which the zombies were trying to break through those lines bristling with long pike heads. Behind the lines were a small group of people, and that was where they landed.

Sakura let out a surprised gasp.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Sakura! Tsunade-sama," Kakashi replied. "Nice to see you again."

Standing with Kakashi were several Nathmenids, their black armour of a different design from the rest of the Nathmenid army. Tsunade did not like the look the female one had when her red eyes squinted at her and Sakura.

"What happened? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked as her Nathmenid gently put her down onto the ground.

"Well..." Kakashi turned to the Nathmenid woman. She turned to Tsunade and smiled.

"He is here at my invitation," she clutched her fists on her chest and bowed in a Nathmenid greeting, her voice a bit too deep for a woman. "I am Roxana Dohaman, High General of the Kastunisa division of the Army of the Immortals."

"Immortals?" Tsunade asked.

"Let's just say we're the army of the Dawn Empire and leave it at that."

"Dawn Empire? But..."

"Roxana-sama!" a voice called out from behind the Hokage. Tsunade turned around, and gasped in shock.

Standing there in front of her was a black haired man in a black robe patterned with red clouds.

"Uchiha… Itachi?

Sakura turned around and stared at her sensei intensely, disbelief filling her eyes.

Itachi, however, seemed to have ignored them both.

"The last of the Leaf has been evacuated out, Roxana-sama," the Akatsuki bowed. "Orders?"

The High General looked at somewhere beyond Itachi. "The Immortals can use a hand."

"Yes, Roxana-sama." Itachi bowed and disappeared in a buff of smoke.

Tsunade could not help but to stare at the Nathmenid. What did she have to do with the Akatsuki?

Roxana took a glace at the Hokage, and only smirked.

---

Gaara literally smirked as he crushed the skeletons with his sand. Nearby, Kuri sent her cyclones to another group of skeletons, disrupting their spells that allowed them to raise Undead.

After seeing the zombies falling down for each skeleton destroyed the Nathmenids, the sand master quickly figured it out that these skeletons were the weakness of the Undead. Gaara never knew that they were crucial to raising the dead: his encounters with the Undead always ended up him trying to defend himself from the front most zombies, while the skeletons were always several lines behind the front.

With that knowledge, the Undead would not last long.

A sudden explosion on his left broke Gaara's revere. He turned around, and at the street corner to his left was a large dome-shape, covered by a black robe with a pattern of red clouds. At the top of the dome was a straw hat, hiding who half of his masked face.

The robe gave Gaara a clue.

"What?" Gaara muttered. "Akatsuki?"

A bony tail struck out from under the robe, cutting through several Undead before retracting back underneath. The movement moved the hat a little, and Gaara could see the stony eyes staring underneath.

Those eyes met Gaara's for a second. Then, as if realizing who he was, the Akatsuki started to fight its way through the Undead, towards him.

---

Sasori casually twisted a handle inside his puppet, and its tail struck across the close line of Undead, brushing them aside.

This was not much of a fight. Despite the fact that the Undead were difficult to "kill", their claws and teeth could not penetrate the thick armour of the puppet. Sasori could simply march through lines after lines of Undead without much risk to himself.

Not that he was going to take that risk however. Sasori kept himself back, not plunging himself into the sea of Undead. He had instructions to hold the Undead back, while the Immortals from above bomb the enclosed zombies. Roxana liked to do things systematically, and Sasori had nothing against that.

That did not stop the battle becoming a little bit repetitive and boring, however. While shinobis were well known for their team-work, a four-man team usually meant that everyone had to perform several task at once. With an army of thousands of soldiers, however, each man had only a single, specific task. The infantry were to hold the enemy together, while the air force bombarded them.

It was an effective tactic, the result of industrialized warfare, division of labour being exploited to the full. However, as effective was it was, it was also far less satisfying for the individual. Sasori felt, more than ever, as if he was just a part of a huge military machine. It was as if it really did not matter much if he was there or not, though Roxana insisted that his presence was important.

Sasori looked around at the battlefield. Apart from him, there was not many holding the Undead back. All the other shinobis seemed to be busy with evacuating the villagers into the caves: just as Roxana had predicted that they would do. Nearby, a pair of sand shinobis was combating the Undead with sand and wind. Not surprisingly the Sand, or what remained of it, came to the Leaf.

Despite the fact that the Sand was his former home, Sasori felt little when he learnt that it had been obliterated. Ever since his parents died of cancer, Sasori had been obsessed with puppetry. With the tutorage of his grandmother Chiyo, he became an undisputed puppet master within a couple of years. In fact, several of the best puppets used by the Sand were built by him. In the end, Sasori became so powerful that the Kazekage, fearing another Gaara, drove him out of the village. Had it not been Roxana, Sasori reckoned that he would end up destroying the village himself.

However, he had orders of the highest priority to evacuate anyone within the Village. Thus Sasori ended up fighting his way through the Undead towards the two Sand shinobis.

They stared at him in surprise as Sasori approached them.

"Hi," Sasori said.

---

Hinata could not stop herself from biting her teeth as she saw the Nathmenids surrounding the Undead army. She felt the darkness that controlled her body issuing mental commands towards the zombies, ordering them to take new formations to engage their new enemies. She could feel the surge of wild rage as whatever it was that went into her maddened with anger.

It felt weird and frightening. She was imprisoned inside herself, while the darkness dominated her body and her brain. Strangely enough, Hinata's conscious was still intact, which made the experience even worse since she was fully aware what that darkness was doing. She could not resist, could not stop while the darkness dominated her body entirely.

Her wings gave a strong flap, and she was lifted into the air. Several Nathmenids aimed their crossbows- for some reason she recognized what they were, despite the fact that she never seen one before- at her, but Hinata's hands, moving faster than she knew them to be, deflected all of the bolts that were coming towards her.

Before she knew it, Hinata found herself behind the Nathmenids, her palms pressed onto their backs. Her Chakra poured out through her palms into the bodies of the demons.

The Nathmenid soldiers were only pushed forward, however, though it was enough for Hinata to spread her wings and got away, over the lines of Nathmenid soldiers with their bristling spears.

---


End file.
